NHTSA Sets Public Hearing on ESC Systems

July 3, 2012
NHTSA will hold a public hearing to provide an opportunity for the public to present oral testimony regarding the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to require the installation of electronic stability control (ESC) systems on truck tractors and large buses

NHTSA will hold a public hearing to provide an opportunity for the public to present oral testimony regarding the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to require the installation of electronic stability control (ESC) systems on truck tractors and large buses.

NHTSA will hold the public hearing on July 24 at the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters building in Washington, DC. The hearing will start at 10 a.m. and continue until 1 p.m., local time.

On May 23, 2012, the agency published a NPRM to establish a new standard, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 136, Electronic Stability Control Systems for Heavy Vehicles (77 FR 30766). The standard would require truck tractors, and certain large buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of greater than 11,793 kilograms (26,000 pounds), to be equipped with an ESC system that meets the equipment and performance requirements of the proposed standard. Heavy vehicle ESC systems use engine torque control and computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to assist the driver in maintaining control of the vehicle in situations in which the vehicle is becoming roll unstable (such as excessive speed in a curve) or is experiencing a loss of control (the vehicle deviates from the driver's intended path due to oversteer or understeer).

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