title: Effectiveness of electronic stability control on single-vehicle accidents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims at evaluating the effectiveness of electronic stability control (ESC) on single-vehicle injury accidents while controlling for a number of confounders influencing the accident risk.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using police-registered injury accidents from 2004 to 2011 in Denmark with cars manufactured in the period 1998 to 2011 and the principle of induced exposure, 2 measures of the effectiveness of ESC were calculated: The crude odds ratio and the adjusted odds ratio, the latter by means of logistic regression. The logistic regression controlled for a number of confounding factors, of which the following were significant. For the driver: Age, gender, driving experience, valid driving license, and seat belt use. For the vehicle: Year of registration, weight, and ESC. For the accident surroundings: Visibility, light, and location. Finally, for the road: Speed limit, surface, and section characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The present study calculated the crude odds ratio for ESC-equipped cars of getting in a single-vehicle injury accident as 0.40 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.34-0.47) and the adjusted odds ratio as 0.69 (95% CI, 0.54-0.88). No difference was found in the effectiveness of ESC across the injury severity categories (slight, severe, and fatal).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In line with previous results, this study concludes that ESC reduces the risk for single-vehicle injury accidents by 31% when controlling for various confounding factors related to the driver, the car, and the accident surroundings. Furthermore, it is concluded that it is important to control for human factors (at a minimum age and gender) in analyses where evaluations of this type are performed.
authors.affiliation: a Technical University of Denmark , Department of Transport , Kgs. Lyngby , Denmark.
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lyckegaard
authors.forename: Tove
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hels
authors.forename: Inger Marie
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Bernhoft
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001336:Automobiles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D055615:Electrical Equipment and Supplies; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016495:Police; D011482:Protective Devices; D012042:Registries; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: cars; crash avoidance; driver assistance systems; evaluations