New law in 2012 .. ECS required ?

[vijen6]

Was watching the new US top gears ( viper episode ) and they mentioned that by 2012 there will be a law requiring electronic stability control systems in all new car.

A quick google showed this:

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Electronic Stability Control Systems
As part of a comprehensive plan for reducing the serious risk of rollover crashes and the risk of death and serious injury in those crashes, this rule establishes Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 126 to require electronic stability control (ESC) systems on passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 Kg (10,000 pounds) or less. ESC systems use automatic computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to assist the driver in maintaining control in critical driving situations. NHTSA estimates ESC will reduce single-vehicle crashes of passenger cars by 34% and single vehicle crashes of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) by 59%, with a much greater reduction of rollover crashes. NHTSA estimates ESC would save 5,300 to 9,600 lives and prevent 156,000 to 238,000 injuries in all types of crashes annually once all light vehicles on the road are equipped with ESC.

Does anyone know how this will affect new Atoms street registration in Jan 2012 or later ?

I apologize ahead of time if this topic has been covered before .. did a search and wasn't able to find anything.

[Lane]

I'd guess it would affect things just like the lack of airbags currently does (or doesn't).  If I had to speculate, I'd imagine that this requirement applied to the manufacturer level, and to those that aren't low volume, exempt, specialty, etc.  It likely wouldn't impact registration.

[vijen6]

That's good to hear .. and it makes sense.    Thanks!

[timcking]

Having fairly recently registered my Atom 3 in a rather restricted state (Nevada), I learned the only reason I could register it - since it does not meet DOT requirements - is that there's an exemption for 'constructed vehicles', or, kit cars.  I'd suspect for some states they don't care, but for those like Nevada, you have to have all the documentation required to show it's a 'constructed vehicle'.

As such, all of the DOT related requirement such as airbags, tire pressure monitoring systems, etc. do not apply.  One only has to comply with their State's requirements such as lighting, fenders, etc.

[shinoo]

[quote="timcking"]
Having fairly recently registered my Atom 3 in a rather restricted state (Nevada), I learned the only reason I could register it - since it does not meet DOT requirements - is that there's an exemption for 'constructed vehicles', or, kit cars.  I'd suspect for some states they don't care, but for those like Nevada, you have to have all the documentation required to show it's a 'constructed vehicle'.

As such, all of the DOT related requirement such as airbags, tire pressure monitoring systems, etc. do not apply.  One only has to comply with their State's requirements such as lighting, fenders, etc.
[/quote]

Basically the same applies in CA.

[vijen6]

Very cool, thanks for clarifying Shinoo.