Crashes involving large trucks create numerous impacts on the transportation system and its users, including property damage, injuries and fatalities. To address two of the more consequential crash types -- truck rollovers and loss of control crashes (LOC) -- many motor carriers are deploying roll stability systems (RSS). These technology systems are designed to take active control of a vehicle and apply corrective actions when a truck’s movements become unstable. There are two primary stability control systems for large trucks: Roll Stability Control (RSC) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC). RSC systems typically activate when the truck is at risk of experiencing an untripped rollover. ESC systems will activate when rollover instability is detected as well as when LOC crashes are likely due to yaw instability (e.g. jackknife). In May 2012, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed a new federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) which would mandate ESC on all new truck tractors with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 26,000 pounds. Given the relatively nascent state of the technology, the underlying studies that informed the ESC FMVSS were based on limited field tests, as opposed to empirical operational crash data. However, as market penetration of both systems increases, certain industry stakeholders believe that, despite the fact ESC has greater functionality than RSC, the higher per-unit cost of ESC may not make it as “cost-effective” as RSC. The testing of this hypothesis was identified by the American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI) Research Advisory Committee as a top research priority for 2012. ATRI’s methodology involved the collection of empirical truck crash data from actual motor carrier operations. These data included a large sample of trucks equipped with RSC, ESC or no RSS system, and documented the relevant crash types and associated costs for trucks with and without the RSS systems. The research objective is to quantify the role of RSC and ESC in crash reduction relative to the cost of each system using operational crash data. (Author/publisher) To receive a copy of this report please visit: http://www.atri-online.org/
Abstract