Crash safety - ESC, Side Airbags

Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) (Virginia based), and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are two major forces to drive safety standards in US.

IIHS is influential only through commercial measures. High ratings of IIHS will make a vehicle more liked by consumers. NHTSA is a government agent to enforce safety standards. It is usually slower to adopt a new standard, either because of long bureaucratic process or because of resistance and reluctance of automakers.

Some safety related figures:

Side impact crashes are the second-deadliest after frontal crashes, killing 9,300 in 2005, or 29 percent of vehicle deaths.

The insurance institute said last month that side air bags, which provide head protection, reduce driver deaths by 37 percent and deaths in SUV crashes by 52 percent.

In 2005, rollover deaths increased 2.1 percent to 10,816

Traffic deaths increased in 2005 to the highest level since 1990, up 1.4 percent to 43,445. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans age 5-35 and cost $230 billion annually

ESC (electronic stability control)-- currently in about 40 percent of all vehicles -- could save 10,300 lives a year and prevent 250,000 injuries a year, according to the NHTSA. It could also reduce by one-third the 2 million annual single vehicle crashes, saving billions of dollars.