Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

Gawnsoft wrote:


In other words, yes and no, but for practical purposes no, unless
the wheels would be locking up. Which they generally don't.


You don't drive in the wet much, do you Guy?


I don't drive much at all these days. And I don't generally drive close
enough to the car in front that I need to brake sharply in the wet or in the
dry.


And, as stated, "the
important capability of ABS is control."



It's not just about driving too close to the car in front, there's
always the idiot that swerves into your path as an oncoming, or the one
that pulls out right in front from the side junction *despite* the fact
that you saw him look at (or was it *through* you)...

A whole host of other circumstances where stopping sharply can be
necessary and not always (or even often) predicted in advance.

At the end of the day if ABS adds to safety in some situations and
doesn't detract from it in others (risk compensation excluded) then it's
worth it.

If we go down the road of saying risk compensation nullifies the safety
aspects, then that has to be applied to absolutely everything else.

Builders shouldn't wear hard hats, cos, obviously, they'll take less
care than if they do. That'll save lots of lives, oh yes.

Oh, and we'd better not let climbers wear ropes/harnesses either, cos
they might not be so careful about not falling off if they have them.

And come to think of it, why bother having training and procedures in
place before you handle toxic waste - cos the risk of contamination is
obviously greater if you bother with those measures, right?

Going back to the traffic calming though - if you can put in place (or
remove) measures that make people *think* more about the situation
rather than putting their faith in the fact that the lines on the road
mean they must be able to fit their vehicle down it regardless - AND
that can be proven to result in a safer environment all around, then
it's worth doing.

You're taught (or at least I was) that roads with centre lines are at
least x wide. Roads without centre lines are invariably narrow, and
signify the fact that two vehicles may (though almost always may not) be
able to pass safely, and that reduction in speed is almost certainly
going to be necessary in that situation.

It's not a reaction to the lack of lines, it's having learnt what the
lines and lack of signify.

By removing all signage and lines, I'm sure there would be a lot of
drivers who would feel too confused and intimidated to drive ever again.
This could be good, but consider that those who stick it out and
succeed in driving successfully in that sort of environment will be
those who already have a tendancy to intimidate other drivers into
giving way to them, letting them pass, and taking any other sort of
action to avoid an accident that would otherwise result.

Do you really want roads full of people driving like that? I know I
wouldn't.

--


Velvet