“Vehicles should be designed to provide good occupant protection when crashes occur, but now with ESC we have the possibility of preventing many crashes altogether,” Lund says. “If all vehicles were equipped with ESC, as many as 10,000 fatal crashes could be avoided each year.”

Institute research indicates that ESC reduces the risk of fatal single-vehicle crashes by 56 percent and fatal multiple-vehicle crashes by 32 percent. Many single-vehicle crashes involve rolling over, and ESC reduces the risk of fatal single-vehicle rollovers by 80 percent (SUVs) and 77 percent (cars).

Pickups eligible for first time
Pickup trucks haven’t been eligible to win Top Safety Pick until now because the Institute hadn’t begun side testing them. The Toyota Tundra is first to qualify. Pickups aren’t as likely as cars or SUVs to have side airbags or ESC, and Toyota has made these features standard in the Tundra.

“Pickups are among the top selling vehicles in the United States,” Lund points out. “They’re also more likely than in the past to be used as family vehicles, so equipping them with the latest safety features is important.”

Protection in rear impacts improve
Crash tests have driven major improvements in the designs of all kinds and sizes of passenger vehicles. The Institute began frontal crash tests for consumer information in 1995. Side tests were added in 2003 and rear tests in 2004. Most vehicles now earn good ratings in the frontal test, but significant differences still are apparent in vehicle performance in side and rear tests.