It has become fundamental, used by all car manufacturers and mandatory in several countries. We are talking about ESP, the active safety system which, in its first 25 years of existence (completed in 2020), has prevented over 500,000 accidents, saving 15,000 lives in Europe alone. ESP stands for Electronic Stability Program, a control system that helps keep a vehicle stable during steering, detecting and reducing traction losses. In more recent models, it also cuts engine power.
Fundamental, as we said, and innovative. So much so that in 2016, the European Patent Office awarded the European Inventor Award for the Lifetime Achievement category to Anton van Zanten, who led the research team that developed the system.
The first tests of a technology that – starting from ABS – ensures better control of vehicles on bends date back to 1984. A kind of "ancestor" of ESP appeared on the Mitsubishi Diamante in 1990. In 1995, modern ESP debuted on a Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupé, but as an optional extra.
Then, in 1997, an accident with incredible media resonance. One hundred days after its market debut, the first Mercedes city car – "the car that revolutionizes the world of four wheels" – overturned during the "moose test." What it is today, more or less everyone knows, precisely because of that incident. It is a test developed in Sweden to test a car's stability in the event of rapid steering maneuvers. On a straight road, it simulates having to avoid an obstacle (the moose) by swerving sharply and then quickly returning to the trajectory. Mercedes recalled the cars already delivered and modified them by installing ESP, which it also introduced as standard equipment on small-engine cars. Other car manufacturers followed suit.
Over time, the ESP active safety system has been perfected and has confirmed its effectiveness. So much so that it has become mandatory. Among the first to mandate it were the United States, then Australia, Canada, and Israel. After a transitional period that began in 2011, ESP has been mandatory in the European Union since 2014 for all newly registered vehicles. ESP is also mandatory in Turkey, Russia, and Japan, and from this year also in Brazil and Argentina. The UN goal is to achieve 100% of cars with ESC by 2030. A nice gift for ESP's 35th anniversary!
