30 July 2007
Car research centre Thatcham has announced that up to 380 lives could be saved every year on Britain's roads if more manufacturers installed ESP into their vehicles.
Electronic Stability Programs are installed into 75 per cent of new cars in Sweden and it is believed that if the same number of cars had the technology installed in Britain then almost 400 road deaths would be prevented annually.
Reducing road deaths is one of the most effective ways the government, manufacturers and drivers can work together to reduce insurance premiums throughout the UK.
Thatcham's crash research manager, Matthew Avery, said: "Our message to vehicle manufacturers must be this: you know ESP can make a real difference in preventing accidents occurring, you have an obligation to fit this technology as standard across all your model ranges."
At present only half of the cars on Britain's roads come with ESP installed, although cars sold with ESP as standard have only just reached seven per cent in the past 12 months in Britain.
The 380 road deaths assumed to be preventable make up a little over one in ten tragedies on Britain's roads, on which 3,201 deaths occurred during 2005.
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