WABCO Welcomes EU Mandate for Electronic Stability Control on Commercial Vehicles

WABCO Holdings Inc., a global technology leader and tier-one supplier to the commercial vehicle industry, announced its support for the recently approved European union mandate that sets better standards to improve road safety in Europe, including the EU's new regulation to introduce electronic stability control systems on new heavy commercial vehicles from November 2011.

The number of fatalities on Europe's roads has decreased by 24 percent since 2001, according to the EU, which earlier this month mandated rules for new safety technology such as ESC, advanced emergency braking and lane departure warning systems to be compulsory on heavy duty trucks and buses to further reduce accident risks. AEB systems will be mandatory in Europe from November 2013.

WABCO pioneered ESC for commercial vehicles in 2001 and has continued to innovate this safety technology ever since, selling more than 50,000 ESC systems since its introduction. ESC improves directional stability, and helps protect against roll-over, skidding, spinning and jack-knifing. Currently, less than 10 percent of the total number of heavy duty trucks produced in Europe are equipped with electronic stability controls.

As previously announced in 2008, WABCO introduced its OnGuardMax autonomous emergency braking system, a breakthrough in driver assistance technology and the commercial vehicle industry's first AEB system that reacts to moving or stopped vehicles. In collision imminent situations, OnGuardMax ensures the most effective deceleration and can bring the vehicle to a complete stop.

Consistent with the EU's new rules requiring a comprehensive set of driver assistance systems  for trucks, WABCO is developing a suite of DAS technologies including AEB, LDW and blind spot detection, among others.

"We welcome the European Union's new rules for safer, greener, quieter commercial vehicles, and we support the EU's sense of urgency to push new safety technologies ahead faster," said Jacques Esculier, WABCO Chief Executive Officer. "In our leadership position as an integrator of commercial vehicle safety and control systems, we are proud to contribute to the EU's aim of improving road safety, especially through the early introduction of electronic stability control."

As reported in 2008, in anticipation of the EU mandate for ESC technology on commercial vehicles, WABCO extended the company's existing test track located in Jeversen, Germany, near Hanover. WABCO's vehicle dynamics test area provides safe and efficient capabilities for dynamic and stability testing on trucks, truck/trailer combinations and buses at high speeds, offering optimum development conditions for the company's innovative stability control systems such as electronic braking systems , roll stability support and ESC.

WABCO expects a sharp increase in the number of tests to be conducted at the company's proving ground in Germany, as manufacturers of commercial vehicles adapt and certify ESC systems for their different ranges of models before November 2011.

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