Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

Velvet wrote:


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.


So few people get anywhere near the limiting braking performance of their
cars that I don't see that being much of an issue.

But like I say, if you want to carry on pushing the fiction that ABS is
there to make you stop quicker, think carefully about the possible
repercussions. It is a commonly held view, and it is responsible for risk
compensation behaviour which means that overall what advantage there is is
consumed as a performance benefit. As ever.

I'm not pushing the fiction. You very carefully say 'its not there to
stop you quicker', I say in a given circumstance it will. We aren't
talking about the same thing, and I know it, and I think you know it too.

I'm not generalising, I'm pointing out a specific instance where having
ABS fitted - WHETHER THEY CUT IN OR NOT - will lead to stopping faster.
That is NOT pushing the fiction that ABS is there to make you stop faster.

Whether I compensate for that or not I can't say for sure - whereas you
seem to know so much about my driving that you can say catagorically
that I would. Odd that, really.

I dislike generalisations, and the 'ABS wont make you stop faster' is
just such a generalisation. It's become abundantly clear you're only
interested in the generalisation though.

I'll continue to prefer a car with ABS. Cos at the end of the day, at
some point in the estimated 35,000 miles I'll do over the coming year
(all things being equal) I *might* just be in a situation where either
they, or my enthusiasm for applying brakes without worrying about the
potential for a skid, will stop me in time when a car without would not.

*I'd* rather have something that increases the safety. If you don't mind.



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.


I think the EU is already onto that one.


And it still stops me in a shorter distance on dry roads.


Lucky you. Not having managed to get the ABS to even cut in on a dry road,
it doesn't do that for me.


I've explained it doesn't HAVE to cut in on a dry road to reduce my
stopping distance, please see above and try to understand, I'm
explaining it as clearly as I can!


--


Velvet