A study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that vehicles with antilock brake systems (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) were less likely to run off the road than vehicles without those features.
The study, produced by NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, found that in vehicles equipped with both ABS and ESC, 7.5 percent ran off the road, while in vehicles equipped with neither ABS nor ESC, 14.6 percent ran off the road. The conclusion that vehicles without ABS and ESC were 2.1 times more likely to run off the road was considered statistically significant at 90 percent confidence level, according to NHTSA. Data was pulled from the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey (NMVCCS) for fatal and non-fatal crashes involving passenger vehicles.
The study also assessed the critical pre-crash event (e.g., the vehicle ran off the left or right edge of the road), while also evaluating the critical reason underlying the pre-crash event such as driver performance errors such as “overcompensation” or “poor directional control.” Run-off-road (ROR) crashes typically involve a single vehicle and contribute to a large portion of fatalities and serious injuries to occupants.
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Download a copy of the study