Accelerating installation of Electronic Stability Control in cars and trucks can save thousands of lives annually according to recent studies from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

ESC is an active safety system that helps drivers by automatically applying brakes to individual wheels when instability threatens a vehicle with loss of control or even rolling over.

Using engine electronics and elements of the ABS system, ESC keeps vehicles safely under control in dangerous situations that might be induced by sharp accident avoidance maneuvers or from a vehicle spinning out on a slippery road. An independent study by Mercedes-Benz in 2002 reported that ESC reduced the accident rate in its vehicles by 15 percent.

More recently, the IIHS study revealed that ESC reduced fatal single-vehicle crashes by 56 percent and reduced all single-vehicle crashes (fatal and nonfatal) by 41 percent. NHTSA's study concludes that ESC can reduce single-vehicle car crashes by 35 percent and 67 percent in SUVs.

If all vehicles on the road had ESC, the two agency studies indicate, more than 7,000 road fatalities might be prevented annually. Other studies conducted in Japan and Europe echo those results. So persuasive are these data that they have touched off a scramble by domestic carmakers to dramatically increase the number of vehicles they offer with ESC.

For instance, GM announced last November that it would immediately make ESC standard equipment on 1.3 million full-size and midsize SUVs by the end of this year. "Except for the growing use of seat belts, we have rarely seen a technology that brings such a positive safety benefit to the driving public," says Gary Cowger, president of GM.

Chrysler announced in early January that it would offer a version of ESC that it calls electronic stability program, as standard equipment on all of its SUVs in the 2006 model year. The company says several models will get the system this year. "We'll be equipping more than 750,000 SUVs [with ESP] during the first full year of implementation," says Eric Ridenour, executive vice president of product development.

Like most electronic safety systems, ESC first appeared in luxury cars. As you would expect, luxury brands still offer the highest percentage of their vehicles with ESC. Mercedes and BMW offer ESC on all of their models as standard equipment.

However, a surprising number of vehicles, some priced at less than $25,000, now offer ESC. The Electronic Stability Control Coalition says vehicles priced under $25,000 that offer ESC have increased more than 100 percent for the 2005 model year. "This is great news for the average car buyer," says Rich Golitko, chairman of the coalition.

ESC assists drivers to keep vehicles going in the driver's intended direction. When the system's sensors detect that a vehicle whose heading is veering away too quickly from that path, ESC kicks in to correct the situation.

If a vehicle is seriously understeering, ESC applies the inside rear brake on the wheel inside of the curve to turn the vehicle and get back on its intended track. If a vehicle fishtails or seriously oversteers, ESC applies the outside front brake on the front wheel on the outside of the curve to correct the path.

An average driver would have difficulty doing these maneuvers as the computer-controlled system does it automatically. But it's important to remember that ESC does not increase a vehicle's traction. ESC is designed to maximize a driver's control of a vehicle during extreme maneuvers.

The price of ESC when it is offered optionally ranges from about $250 to $1,000, depending on whether it is offered as a stand-alone feature or as part of a package. There are about 150 2005 models that offer ESC as standard or optional equipment. Buyers can get an up-to-date list at www.esceducation.com.

An additional guide to vehicle safety can be obtained from www.safercar.gov. This site reveals NHTSA's rollover ratings for vehicles. The ratings range from one to five stars. The lowest rated vehicles, one star, are four times more likely to roll over than the highest rated vehicles, five stars.