Since his election as the new President of eSafety Aware, Jean Todt has helped accelerate the use of eSafety technologies with promotional events across the world. Todt’s first action as President of eSafetyAware was to launch ChooseESC! China. Following the success of ChooseESC! in Europe and North America, with the passing of a regulation making ESC mandatory by 2012, Todt now hopes to further extend the geographical coverage of the technology to China, where only 11 per cent of all new cars sold in 2008 were equipped with ESC.

The China campaign will be co-led by the Research Institute of Highway of the Chinese Ministry of Transport and the Federation of Automobile Sports of China (FASC). Wang Xiaojing, Deputy Director-General of Research Institute of Highway, MOT said: “There is no doubt that ESC can play a major role in saving lives on Chinese roads and could contribute significantly to our goal to reduce the number of road traffic fatalities. But to achieve this, much more needs to be done to inform the consumer about why they must choose ESC when buying a new car, as ESC cannot be retrofitted.”

The launch event also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between ITS China, FASC, eSafetyAware and the FIA Foundation on the deployment of ESC in China. This will be the starting point for a number of ESC demonstration events throughout China where drivers will get a firsthand experience of the benefits of having a car which is ESC equipped.

Todt also recently attended the launch of the Danish eSafety on board campaign in Copenhagen. The campaign, run in cooperation with FIA Foundation, the Danish Automobile Dealers Association (DAF), the Danish Automobile Club (FDM) as well as the Danish Road Safety Council, aims to distribute eSafety information to new car buyers through dealerships across the country. The aim is to ensure that Danish drivers are informed about the availability of eSafety technologies, and fiscal incentives such as tax relief when purchasing a car fitted with ESC.

The campaign launch was attended by eight-time, 24 Hour Le Mans winner, Tom Kristensen who has been appointed Danish Campaign Ambassador. Kristensen said: “People often only think about safety after an accident when it is too late. I always make sure that the car I use on the road is as safe as possible. No matter how good a driver you are, anyone can be surprised, and eSafety technologies can save lives by helping the driver to react before it is too late.”

The next big event for eSafetyAware will be the eSafety Challenge, to be held on 8-9 September in Vallelunga, near Rome, Italy. The Challenge, organised jointly with the Automobile Club of Italy (ACI), will feature demonstrations of new vehicle safety technologies by F1 Drivers Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica, Heikki Kovalainen, Timo Glock, as well as more famous racing drivers from other series. The technologies will include ESC, Blind Spots Monitoring, Lane Support Systems, Speed Alert, and Warning and Emergency Braking Systems.