ESC compulsory for new cars from 2018

SEPANG: The government has fastforwarded its plan to make it compulsory for new passenger cars to have Electronic Stability Control (ESC) from 2021 to June 1, 2018.

Announcing this yesterday, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Malaysia is the first country in the region to regulate the application of ESC as safetyassist technology in new cars, as a result of constant pressure by Asean NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) with car manufacturers.

It is learned that the Road Transport Department had initially planned for ESC to be part of the UN/ECE regulation for passenger cars sold in Malaysia by 2021.

Liow said that ESC could prevent at least 40% of deaths due to crashes as a result of losing control.

“It could further reduce risk of collisions by having better control during critical situations,” he said at the Stop the Crash Asean 2016 at Sepang International Circuit.

Currently, new local car models launched this year such as Proton Persona (all variants), Proton Perdana 2.4 litre, Perodua Bezza (premium) and Proton Saga (premium) are installed with ESC.

“Studies have proved that ESC is the most cost-effective life saving device at present.”

Police data last year showed that frontal collision and loss of control were the main causes of crashes and deaths on the road.

“These type of collisions contribute to 45.39% of fatal accidents,” he added.

He also said regulations to make it compulsory for new motorcycles to be equipped with anti-lock braking system (ABS) could be a possibility in the future.

“But let’s take one step at a time with ESC, child car seat regulation in 2019 and others,” Liow added. – by Shahrim Tamrin