Describing ESC as the most cost-effective life-saving device at present, he said studies from all over the world also showed that ESC could prevent at least 40% of deaths in loss-of-control crashes.

“As we know, Malaysia is a tropical country, rains all the time, roads are quite slippery, while police investigations show more than 45% of fatal incidents are caused by instability or inability to control the car.

“So, we need a stable car. This new gadget, ESC, can further reduce risk of collision by allowing significantly better manoeuvring control during critical situations,” he told a press conference after launching “Stop the Crash” at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) here today.

Present were Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) chairman Lee Lam Thye and Global New Car Assessment Programme secretary-general David Ward.

Liow said in terms of cost-benefit ratio, ESC was eight to 14 times better than the head-restraint system, 18 times better than the centre belt and 10 to 28 times higher than advanced airbags.

He said as a safe system approach, safer vehicles and safer roads could minimise injuries during a crash, even though humans made errors while driving.

“So, with this commitment, the Malaysian government is taking an important step forward in road safety and will be the first Asean country to mandate the ESC.”

He said countries in the European Union (EU), the United States, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Japan and South Korea had also made the ESC compulsory.

On another note, he said the government was currently establishing the eCall System, which would automatically notify the emergency services with accurate crash information within the shortest possible duration.

The system is targeted to be fully implemented by January 2019.