The nation's top transportation officials have announced a rule requiring new crash prevention technology to become standard equipment on every new passenger vehicle sold in America by 2012, which could lead to reduced number of auto claims for insurers.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters and National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Nicole R. Nason announced the decision to require the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) on all new passenger vehicles last week. The final rule will require all manufacturers to begin equipping passenger vehicles with ESC starting with model year 2009, and to have the feature standard by the 2012 model year.

Electronic stability control detects when a car is going in a direction that the driver did not intend, such as in over and under-steering situations. Sensors measure speed, steering-wheel angle, direction of travel, and lateral acceleration of the vehicle and, if the calculated path of travel is different to that dictated by the steering wheel position, the stability control computer applies individual wheel brakes and reduces engine power in order for the driver to regain control.