For immediate release
March 5, 2000
ABS PR 3-5-00

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ABS EDUCATION ALLIANCE TO PROMOTE UNDERSTANDING OF ADVANCED AUTOMOTIVE STABILITY TECHNOLOGIES

Special Project Builds Upon Alliance's Mission of Consumer Education

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., March 5, 2000– The ABS Education Alliance will focus its educational efforts on the proper use and safety benefits of promising new automotive stability-enhancing technologies.

Based on anti-lock brake system (ABS) technology, these newer technologies improve vehicle stability and control by intervening and helping correct potentially dangerous oversteer or understeer conditions. Previously reserved for high-end import sedans and SUVs, these systems are increasingly offered as either optional or standard equipment on a number of moderately priced vehicles.

"Considering that advanced stability systems rely on the base technologies that comprise ABS, this project is a logical extension of the Alliance's efforts," said Rosemarie Kitchin, director of the Alliance. "It's important that drivers learn about these technologies as they become more widely available. They'll understand the benefits of the new technological capabilities of their personal vehicles."

Stability-enhancing technologies rely on various sensors (typically wheel speed sensors, steering angle sensors, lateral acceleration sensors, and vehicle yaw rate sensors) to monitor and compare a vehicle's physical movement relative to the driver's desired path. Upon sensing a discrepancy between the driver's intended path and the vehicle's actual movement, the system will control brake applications at the vehicle corners, correcting the vehicle's direction.

Currently, the various systems available are marketed under a variety of brand names such as Active Handling, AdvanceTrac, Dynamic Stability Control, Electronic Stability Program, StabiliTrac and Traxxar, creating an enormous challenge from an educational standpoint.

"It all adds up to a potentially confusing situation for the consumer," said Kitchin. "A concerted communications effort and consumer education program from our industry will help ensure that drivers both understand these technologies and know what to expect from these systems when they are behind the wheel. We're taking a first step."

The effort will begin with research, meetings, and interviews with automotive and safety industry experts and focus groups. The Alliance will then reach out to industry influencers and automotive media that consumers typically look to for advice when selecting a new vehicle.

Now in its fifth year, the ABS Education Alliance is a non-profit coalition of leading manufacturers of anti-lock brakes-- Robert Bosch Corp., Continental Teves, and Delphi Automotive Systems -- to respond to the public's need for better information and instruction on the function and proper use of the technology. The Alliance's educational campaign, "America Brakes for Safety," includes a driver education curriculum and video that has been endorsed and adopted by leading associations in the driver education and safety industries. To date, at least six states have integrated the Alliance curriculum and video into all of their driver education classes, and 20 state Departments of Motor Vehicles include language about ABS on their driver manuals and licensing tests. For more information about the ABS Education Alliance, visit www.abs-education.org, or call 800/ABS-8958.

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