Electronic stability control in the new 2011 Ford Explorer will come with an upgrade called curve control, which helps the vehicle perform better if a driver goes into a curve too quickly.
By monitoring the steering-wheel angle, wheel speed and vehicle input 100 times per second, stability control can cut power to the engine and apply the brakes if the driver veers off course. Curve control uses additional sensors to monitor if the SUV isn’t turning as fast as the driver needs it to and can drop the vehicle’s speed by as much as 10 mph in a second.
Ford says every year there are 50,000 crashes in the U.S. involving curves. While it doesn’t override the driver’s braking, curve control can assist in slowing vehicle speed and react more quickly than a human driver.
The technology is the first of its kind and Ford has a patent pending on it. Electronic stability control will be standard on all vehicles by 2012, and Ford plans to add curve control to 90 percent of its vehicles by 2015.
The 2011 Explorer is something of a prototype for safety technologies. It also includes the first rear inflatable seat belts, which is on top of a terrain management system that measures on- and off-road conditions and a collision warning system.
