On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 16:18:09 +0000, William T Goodall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > http://tinyurl.com/43o4j > > " In a study released this fall, the highway safety agency compared > crash statistics for SUVs and other vehicles that had a > stability-control system with the experience of identical models that > lacked the technology. It found that SUVs with stability control had > 63% fewer fatal single-vehicle crashes. > > Cars with the systems had 30% fewer such crashes, which include > spinouts and rollovers. > > Researchers at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit > testing organization, have estimated that at least 7,000 lives could be > saved each year if all vehicles were equipped with stability control > systems. > > Although stability control has been available on some U.S. models > since the late 1990s, fewer than 10% of new vehicles sold here have the > systems, compared with about half in Europe. > > In the U.S. market, more emphasis has been put on such options as > satellite navigation and elaborate sound systems than on stability > control equipment. "
Blame the %$#*^&^& marketers. Last I looked, stability control was hardly offered on anything but high end luxury and flagship-level vehicles here. Even traction control isn't widely available, and that's been around far longer. If available, I would have taken traction and/or stability control in a second over a GPS system or a fancy sound system for my minivan. My guess is that they make more money by keeping these things as luxury items than they would if they were commonplace. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
