NHTSA to require electronic stability control on trucks

U.S. government and industry leaders say the technology will bring added safety to trucking.    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday issued a final rule requiring new heavy duty trucks to be built with electronic stability control systems to help prevent rollover and loss-of-control accidents.
   The technology is used widely in passenger cars and light trucks, and many truck fleets have already begun to use electronic stability control voluntarily.
   Electronic stability control technology automatically reduces throttle and applies the vehicle’s brakes in situations where the driver’s own steering and braking cannot be accomplished quickly enough. The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended since 2011 that electronic stability control be required on large trucks.
   Congress in 2012 directed NHTSA to consider an electronic stability control requirement for large buses, which are included in the rule.
   NHTSA estimates the devices will save up to 1,759 crashes and 49 lives per year. Electronic stability control will prevent up to 56 percent of rollover crashes. The reduced property damage – including cargo – and traffic delays at accident sites will roughly provide about a $400 million annual benefit to the economy, it said.
   The requirement applies to trucks above 26,000 pounds and will take effect for model year 2017 tractors with three axles.
   The American Trucking Association, which has long supported such a mandate, said it welcomed the ruling despite the average estimated cost of $585 per vehicle. 
   ATA spokesman Sean McNally said that many new trucks have electronic stability control or something similar and that a mandate would help speed the penetration of the technology. According to NHTSA, about a third of trucks manufactured in 2018 would be built with electronic stability control absent the mandate.
   “It will prevent crashes and therefore we think everyone should have it. It’s easier for everyone to have it if they don’t have a choice,” McNally said.
   NHTSA said it considered requiring a roll stability control system for trailers, but determined that it would save fewer lives and not be cost effective.