ELYRIA, Ohio — Bendix is calling vehicle stability legislation recently passed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) a significant step forward in the improvement of safety on European roadways. The ECE legislation will regulate stability control technology as it relates to commercial vehicle traffic. Implementation will begin in 2009 and will require vehicles in all commercial vehicle classes to be equipped with stability functionality by 2015.

Bendix is urging a similar approach in Canada and the US, where officials say more than 14,000 commercial vehicle rollovers occur each year. Many of these incidents begin with a loss-of-control event that only full-stability systems, such as the Bendix ESP Electronic Stability Program, can help mitigate.

“We see this act by the ECE as a global confirmation that full-stability systems are the safest and best way to mitigate harmful and costly crashes and that they do more to save lives and reduce injuries than roll-only systems,” said Joe McAleese, Bendix president and CEO. “It has long been the Bendix mission to improve highway safety, and we feel strongly that the societal costs of a preventable highway accident are much greater than the cost of regulating stability technology. We will continue to advocate for the use of advanced safety technologies such as electronic stability control/electronic stability program and hope to achieve similar safety legislation in North America.”

At the Ontario Trucking Association’s (OTA) annual convention in November, OTA president David Bradley called for the mandatory installation of anti-rollover systems on all new heavy trucks. There is no word yet on the proposal being made into law.