Characteristics of Vehicle Stability Control's Effectiveness Derived from the Analysis of Traffic Accident Data Statistics

Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) is a system designed to help drivers when skidding or unstable vehicle behavior is about to occur. We have studied the characteristics of VSC in reducing accidents by analyzing accident data statistics in Japan. The results indicate that VSC is effective in reducing single car accidents and head-on collisions with other automobiles. In these accidents, the analysis showed that VSC may be more helpful in reducing a larger number of accidents in the higher speed range where vehicle dynamics plays a greater part. It also showed that VSC may contribute to reducing accidents that result from unstable vehicle behavior. VSC demonstrated more effectiveness in reducing accidents involving lateral & rear impacts than those of frontal impacts, and in reducing accidents on wet & snowy/icy roads than those on dry roads. However, the most important characteristic that was shown in this analysis is that VSC may help reduce the above types of accidents to some extent when they result from driver mis-operation and mis-judgment, but has little effect when they result from mis-recognition. Thus, VSC cannot be regarded as an all-powerful device to compensate for all driver errors.