Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is an anti-skid technology that uses sensors to monitor a vehicles stability. ESC is designed to help prevent a driver from losing control in cases of over and under-steering. Currently only thirteen of the twenty G20 countries follow the recommendation of the United Nations and require the ESC technology in vehicles. However, Argentina and Brazil are expected to begin applying the regulation in 2020. This leaves China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and South Africa as the remaining five G20 countries without any mandate on anti-skid technology. According to a study by the U.K.’s Transport Research Laboratory, if the remaining seven G20 countries were to mandate ESC technology, this would create over $21.5 billion in economic benefit as a result of death and serious injury prevention. A simple cost benefit analysis also supports a mandate for the technology. The cost for installing an ESC system on a vehicle already equipped with an anti-lock braking system is around $50. It’s estimated that an ESC system is approximately 38% effective in reducing the number of deaths in loss of control accidents.
