Bosch's electronic stability control systems receive international recognition, awards

Bosch's pioneering ESP® Electronic Stability Program, delivered to market in 1995, recently won the Federation Internationale l'Automobile's "World Prize for Road Safety, the Environment, and Mobility" and Britain's "Prince Michael Twentieth Anniversary International Road Safety Technology Award."Both awards recognize the contributions Bosch has made to worldwide road safety.

"Bosch has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of the most effective car safety system since the invention of the safety belt," says FIA President Max Mosley. In accepting the FIA award, Robert Bosch GmbH CEO Franz Fehrenbach noted that: "This prize is a distinction for all our associates: for the engineers who developed the system, for the associates in our plants who have been producing this system to the highest quality standards for many years now, and not least for the marketing experts who have never tired of communicating the benefits of this system."

Bosch developed the active safety system and was the first company to put it on the market in 1995. International accident studies estimate that skidding causes at least 40 percent of all fatal traffic accidents. Around 80 percent of all skidding accidents could be prevented with electronic stability control.

The highly acclaimed FIA "World Prize for Road Safety, the Environment, and Mobility" recognizes "the great contribution Bosch has made to worldwide road safety by developing and consistently marketing the ESP® safety system." FIA presented the trophy to Bosch at an annual FIA event in Monaco. The FIA World Prize is presented every year to a person or an organization that has made an outstanding contribution in the areas of road safety, the environment, or mobility.

Almost simultaneously, Bosch received the prestigious British "Prince Michael Twentieth Anniversary International Road Safety Technology Award" for its pioneering ESP stability control system. The award cites Bosch's ESP active safety system is "the most successful development in reducing road casualties since 1987."

This year, a socio-economic study by the University of Cologne showed that 4,000 traffic deaths and 100,000 injuries could be prevented in Europe alone if electronic stability control were installed in all vehicles. In the U.S., the NHTSA estimates that 10,000 traffic deaths on American roads could be prevented with electronic stability control.

In 2006, 26 percent of all new vehicles produced worldwide were equipped with electronic stability control. In the first half of 2007, the share of all newly registered cars in Europe was 47 percent. In the U.S., legislation was passed in 2007 making electronic stability control mandatory standard equipment for all passenger cars from model year 2012. And the EU Commission has also announced its intention to mandate installation of the anti-skid system from 2011.

For information on Bosch automotive aftermarket products, visit the company's Web site.