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Automotive Safety Council Celebrates 50 Life-Saving Years

The Automotive Occupant Restraints Council, founded in 1961, now known as the Automotive Safety Council, is celebrating its 50th year of saving lives.

The organization's membership includes the leading global auto safety system manufacturers and their major suppliers.

The organization also has a new Web site at www.automotivesafetycouncil.org, which highlights the latest technologies in automotive safety.

One such technology, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), becomes standard equipment in the United States on all passenger cars and light trucks in 2012.  ESC has shown the ability to prevent the loss of control of the vehicle under numerous conditions which can potentially save thousands of lives per year when fully implemented.

"Today's safety systems are reaching ever-greater levels of integration and sophistication," said ASC President Doug Campbell. "New active systems have a greater ability to sense the vehicle environment and technologies such as ESC can be employed to help prevent accidents or mitigate their severity, while occupant protection systems like seat belts and air bags have become more adaptive to the crash variables such as occupant size, position, speed of the crash, and more."

ASC members produce most of the passive, active, interior and child safety products found in vehicles sold in the United States and the rest of the world, including ESC.

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