The Canadian government has announced that, as in the U.S., electronic stability control will be mandatory on all new vehicles as of August 2011. Transport Canada says that vehicles so equipped are involved in fewer severe collisions involving loss of control.*
This means that anti-lock brakes will also be standard, along with airbags, new roof standards, and in the U.S., tire pressure monitoring systems. I fully expect curtain airbags and active head restraints to be added in future, too.
Our roads won't be safer because cars are equipped with all these systems. Our roads will be safer because no one will be able to afford a car anymore, and there won't be as many people actually driving.
*And all of this is after-the-fact, because the governments will never mandate the two things that would truly make a huge dent in the number of vehicle collisions and fatalities -- real driver training with periodic re-testing, and properly-maintained, season-specific tires.
