Bosch steps up ESP awareness drive to support implementation of EU Road Safety Charter

In line with the company's commitment to support the implementation of the European Union Road Safety Charter and bring down fatality rates.

A signatory to the European Road Safety Charter, Bosch has been working at various levels to highlight to the public the benefits of ESP, a safety mechanism that supports motorists in difficult driving maneuvers with a risk of skidding, thereby keeping the vehicle safely on course. Bosch's measures are part of a wider campaign to ensure that, by 2010, at least 50 per cent of new vehicles registered in Europe are fitted with ESP.

Through the "ESPerience" training program, Bosch has explained the benefits of ESP to some 25,000 car sales staff. Comprehensive information related to in-car safety systems has been published on the internet, while several driving simulators that are able to provide vivid demonstrations of ESP at a wide range of events, have been constructed.

"Skidding is the most common cause of fatal accidents, and ESP can effectively prevent it in most situations. ESP reacts instantly to a sudden obstacle, preventing skidding when performing a fast avoidance maneuver or when negotiating a wrongly estimated bend," said Oleg Riabstev, General Manager, Middle East Operation, Bosch Automotive Aftermarket (Bosch AA). "In stepping up efforts to raise awareness of the benefits of ESP, Bosch is supporting EU's traffic goal of bringing down the number of people killed on European roads to 25,000 by 2010."

The EU Road Safety Charter aims to persuade road users to behave more responsibly, to make vehicles safer, and to develop the road infrastructure. Bosch was among the first companies and organizations to sign the charter. Prior to signing, Bosch had researched consumers' knowledge of active safety systems in several European countries and had found that ESP was largely unknown. This led Bosch to initiate a sustained campaign aimed at communicating the benefits of ESP to the public.

In 1995, Bosch became the world's first automotive supplier to begin series production of ESP. Since then, the company has produced more than 20 million systems. Whereas 29 percent of all the cars sold in Europe in 2003 were fitted with ESP, the preliminary figure for 2005 is as high as 39 percent, indicating that Bosch is well on track to achieve its target of outfitting 50 per cent of new vehicles with ESP.