A safety feature we ought to have

Pop quiz: What is the single most effective safety feature — passive or active — found in cars today? If you answered "seatbelt," you’re correct! But that wasn’t too hard. Next question: What relatively new safety feature is turning out to be a major factor in dramatically reducing the frequency and severity of single-vehicle accidents — at least in the States (where they actually compile data to come out with meaningful statistics)?

Airbags? Wrong. Crumple zones? Not even close. ABS? Nope! It’s ESC. That’s Electronic Stability Control to you. What the heck is ESC, you might ask? This newfangled feature might be alien to you — especially if you don’t drive any of the more recent high-end European, American or Japanese (i.e. Lexus) sedans or SUVs — but it’s something that’s worth having in more and more cars, especially with our lengthy wet season.

So what exactly is ESC? Simply put, ESC monitors the vehicle’s directional path and compares it with the driver’s steering input. If the ESC computer determines that the car’s path deviates from the driver’s intent, it actuates individual brakes (any of the brakes in each wheel) to bring the vehicle back into line. For example, if a driver has started a right turn and the vehicle is oversteering (the tail is swinging wide), the ESC system’s yaw-rate sensor will notice that the vehicle is turning farther to the right than the driver intended. The system will then apply the left front brake, reducing its turn to the right. In other words, it tries to eliminate the oversteer and restore the vehicle to the driver’s intended path.

Now if the car understeers (the car "pushes" straight despite the front wheels already turned), the system will operate much the same way except that it applies the right rear brake to increase the vehicle’s turn rate, thereby reducing the understeer. Either way, ESC encourages the vehicle to be faithful to the driver’s input, no matter how slippery the conditions or haphazard the driver’s steering motions.

I’ve experienced ESC in a number of high-performance cars, namely the previous-generation Corvette back in 2003 in no less than General Motor’ famed Black Lake proving grounds in Milford, Michigan; a Porsche 911 in a driving experience event at Clark; and a number of BMWs (1-, 3-, 5- and 7-series sedans and the X-series SUVs both here and abroad) and I walked away with the same enlightening result: ESC, whatever it’s called (Porsche calls it Porsche Stability Management or PSM, BMW calls it Dynamic Stability Control or DSC and Chevrolet calls it Active Handling), simply works. In cars that had switchable ESC, turning it off instantly resulted in a spin.

Enter a bend too fast or hit a patch of water or worse, glare ice while cornering (which is what we tried at Black Lake), and a non-ESC-equipped car will spin. It doesn’t matter if its wears the best high-performance tires or if Michael Schumacher is behind the wheel. Once a car exceeds its cornering limits, the laws of physics will punish you. But try it in an ESC-equipped vehicle, and you’ll have a pretty good chance of making it through unscathed. How good?

Well, if numbers are to be believed, the U.S. National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that vehicles with ESC had 42 percent fewer single-vehicle crashes and 40 percent fewer fatalities in those crashes. Meanwhile, the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), in a separate survey, discovered that single-vehicle crashes declined by 41 percent and fatalities in such crashes plunged by 56 percent.

With more than 15,000 fatalities in single-vehicle crashes in America annually, these results suggest that if every vehicle in that country were equipped with ESC, annual fatalities would be reduced by more than 7000. That’s more than three times the number of lives saved each year by airbags.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the system is foolproof. Taking a corner that’s good for a maximum of 40 kph at 80 kph is a good way of prematurely meeting your Maker — even with a vehicle equipped with ESC. The laws of physics applies to all — especially the foolhardy. And heaven knows we’ve already got too many of them right here in Metro Manila.

Wow! After all that’s happened to the MMDA over the past few weeks, we received tons of messages expressing their support for its beleaguered Chairman Bayani Fernando. Seems like the general sentiment of Backseat Drivers is clear. Here are some of the messages sent in.

The leadership of Chairman Fernando as MMDA shows what strong political will can do. His efforts to improve Metro Manila’s traffic are commendable. — 09154015152

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I don’t know MMDA Chairman Fernando personally but you must be nuts not to agree with his projects. Look at the results. — 09184603757

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Put more bite into the MMDA’s teeth! — 09179242033

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Attention to all Metro Manila Mayors, please work with the MMDA. Pinapabayaan niyo na ang Manila, paano natin bubuhayin kung matitigas ang ulo niyo? — 09173221971

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When Chairman Bayani visits an MMDA outpost, he does so without fanfare. When Mayor Atienza visits an outpost, he closes the whole darn street to traffic. — 09198605051

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It only takes one man like Chairman Bayani to tackle the chronic traffic that most Mayors can’t fix. — 09175100815

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MMDA Chairman Bayani is doing his job. What seems to be blocking progress are the uncooperative mayors who lack vision. — 09176271687

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I’m a regular commuter and a pedestrian. Thanks to Chairman Bayani Fernando, walking across Ligaya, Marcos Highway in Marikina has been made easy. — 09157703048

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And if they’re not praising or defending him, they’re venting their frustrations and asking for help from him…

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Performance Team MMDA, our hero, Bayani, please clear the sidewalk and enforce one side or no parking in Banahaw st.,Brgy Kaunlaran. — 09192595210

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Paki naman sa MMDA Chairman, parang ayaw na padaanan ang sidewalk ng EDSA (MRT Quezon Avenue Station, north bound) because of the pink fence. — 09162485615

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Speak out, be heard and keep those text messages coming in. To say your piece and become a "Backseat Driver", text PHILSTAR<space>FB<space>MOTORING<space>YOUR MESSAGE and send to 2333 if you’re a Globe or Touch Mobile subscriber or 334 if you’re a Smart or Talk ’n Text subscriber.