Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is a safety initiative that utilizes low g and yaw rate sensors. ESC has been a standard feature on high-end vehicles and now is appearing in entry-level and mid-range vehicles. Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) especially benefit from ESC due to higher rollover rates. The recently proposed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 126 ruling by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) will require ESC systems on 100 percent of passenger cars, multipurpose vehicles, trucks and buses sold in the U.S. by model year 2012.

ESC is designed to detect a difference between the driver's control inputs and the actual response of the vehicle. When differences are detected, the system intervenes by providing braking forces to the appropriate wheels to correct the path of the vehicle. This automatic reaction is engineered for improved vehicle stability. To implement ESC functionality, additional sensors must be added to the anti-lock braking system (ABS). A steering wheel angle sensor is used to detect driver input with a yaw rate sensor and a low g sensor that measure the vehicle response.

ESC helps drivers maintain control of their vehicles by using high-performance, low-g 2-axis sensors to measure the lateral and longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle. When sensors register potentially unstable driving conditions, the system sends data to the car's engine and braking system to automatically assist the driver in maintaining vehicle control.

Freescale's MMA6700/1EG accelerometers offer a wide dynamic range with exceptionally high resolution. This increased dynamic range enables ESC designers to filter out extraneous signals, such as parasitic vibrations, that could potentially interfere with the vehicle's lateral acceleration measurement. In addition, the accelerometers' integrated digital signal processor (DSP) provides higher accuracy and improves signal integrity for ESC applications.