Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

Velvet wrote:


Q. Does ABS reduce stopping distances?


A. Yes, in braking situations where the wheels on a non-ABS equipped
vehicle would lock up, ABS will generally provide shorter controlled
stopping distance. The amount of improvement in stopping distance
depends on many factors, including the road surface, severity of
braking, initial vehicle speed, etc. On some surfaces, such as gravel
roads, braking distances can be longer, but you will still have the
control benefits of ABS. The important capability of ABS is control.
ABS provides improved vehicle steerability and stability when braking.


In other words, yes and no, but for practical purposes no, unless the wheels
would be locking up. Which they generally don't. And, as stated, "the
important capability of ABS is control."


Interesting that you made no comment on the second snippet I posted,
which came from the designers of the ABS system themselves...

Given the amount of people who know skidding = longer stopping
distances, they almost certainly will attempt to err on the side of not
inducing a skid, thus they will be braking less effectively than if they
had ABS and knew it would stop the skid.

I also uncovered some very interesting studies which showed that brkae
assist (something different to ABS) stops the problem of a driver
lifting the braking force to start the foetal curl reaction - again,
tends to indicate that in amny situations the car will not be travelling
at the point of skidding, and that again, would would take longer to
stop than if it *is* on the point, and has ABS, and they are, therefore,
engaged. Brake assist, in case you're unfamiliar, is where the car
takes over and KEEPS the pressure on the brakes even if the driver lifts
it off. Obviously, tends to be used in conjunction with ABS. WHich
tends to suggest that ABS is misused by quite a few people who've never
tried it to feel what it is like through a pedal, or who default (quite
dangerously) to pumping the brakes even though they have an ABS equipped
car.

The solution to the dirver confusion would seem to be to either fit all
cars or no cars with ABS, thus in the instant where you have to decide
if you tromp or pump, you get it right, and given the benefits of ABS on
mixed-surfaces/low grip etc, I think ABS on all is the way to go.

And it still stops me in a shorter distance on dry roads. And I'm sure
I'm not the only one who'll err the less-pressure side of the line in
that situation to avoid the skid. Which means that ABS does stop you
quicker, in that situation. If you've got excellent braking control
then granted it's probably not going to make a lot of difference, but
lets face it, how many people have - should we be devoting our sunday
afternoons to go do emergency stops repeatedly on the public roads, once
a month, just so we can claim we can stop in the same distance with a
non-abs car as we can with an abs one?

I think not.

--


Velvet