No not Extrasensory Perception, which is defined as telepathy - pre recognition - and clairvoyance - but close to it. The ESP I am talking about is an acronym for Electronic Stability Program, it is the trade name of the Mercedes Benz version of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) or computer aided driving. Other car manufactures have different names for it, Cadillac calls it StabiliTrak. Basically it is a computer that takes over control of the vehicle when the vehicles path is not what the driver intended it to be.
Computer aided driving is not new. ABS and Traction Control, which are forms of computer aided driving, have been around for a while and add a great deal to the safety of a vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration thinks enough of the device that it will require that all future passenger vehicles have ESC as standard equipment by 2012. Some car manufacturers, like Ford Motor Company, have announced they will have Electronic Stability Control standard on all consumer-version of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and trucks by the end of 2009. It's no exaggeration to say that stability control is the biggest automotive safety advancement since ABS and airbags. Researchers at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that ESC reduces the risk of fatal multiple-vehicle crashes by 32 percent. The new research confirms that ESC reduces the risk of all single-vehicle crashes by more than 40 percent - fatal ones by 56 percent. The researchers estimate that if all vehicles were equipped with ESC, as many as 10,000 fatal crashes could be avoided each year. Nine other independent studies around the globe showed that stability control can help drivers maintain directional control and have fewer single-vehicle crashes. If police vehicle accidents can be lowered by the same percentages ESC will have an enormous impact on the police community.
HOW IT WORKS
For those of us who have lost control of a car, we know that it's that first twitch of the car that tells us that we are about to have an exciting experience. That twitch is information the car is sending to us. For some, interpreting this information is second nature, and for others it's like trying to understand Swahili. That sinking feeling we get in our stomach is the car telling us that it's not going where we want it to go, but it is going in a path that it wants to go. The value of ESC is that it interprets the information, in most cases, before the average driver or even the above average driver can sense the problem. Once the ESC computer reads the information it starts to set the car on the correct path before we can figure out what's going on.
Electronic Stability Control accomplish this by using the existing ABS and Traction Control computers, plus additional sensors to monitor what the car is doing after you tell it what to do. By measuring throttle position, steering wheel angle and lateral acceleration, the computer compares the intended path of the vehicle to the path the car is actually taking. If it's not doing what you wanted it to do, or if what you are doing is contrary to good sense and the laws of physics, the ESC computer takes over. When ESC decides to handle the driving chores it applies one of the front brakes, or in some systems one of the front and/or rear brakes, to straighten the car and put it back on the path you wanted it to go.
For example, for what ever reason an officer enters a right turn and because of driver error or slippery road conditions the vehicle is oversteering, or the rear wheels are starting to slide, a 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, slowing the left side of the vehicle and 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.
In the same scenario as above the vehicle understeers, or "pushes" straight ahead as the driver attempts to turn right, the system operates 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 not to loose control no matter how slippery the conditions or how bad the driver's inputs.
WHY IT WORKS
With ABS the driver has to take action, and brake hard enough to take full advantage of the ABS computer. EVOC instructors will tell you that most students do not press hard enough on the brakes to initiate the computer. ESC works because the driver does not have to do anything, if the driver unexpectedly hits glare ice, or for any other sudden loss of control, ESC will come to their aid without any input from the driver.
Of course, there are limits to effectiveness of stability control. Computers cannot overcome stupidity. ESC cannot compensate if the driver is driving far beyond road and vehicle conditions. In other words, it's not a license to drive like an idiot.
ESC adds a minor complication to some scenarios. If your vehicle becomes stuck in deep snow, for example, automakers generally advise that you turn off stability control - there's usually a deactivation button on the dashboard - in order to get the full power of the engine and wheel spin as you try to work your vehicle free.
RELUCTANCE
Remember when ABS brakes first came into our lives, you got the "I can out-brake ABS"? Well, today, those theories have been put to rest and ABS is accepted as a must have device. ESC is gaining the same acceptability. The question has been asked, "Can a good driver out drive the computer?" Simply put, "no." The computer puts the car on the correct path before most folks realize something is wrong.
