There is a point about ABS that needs to be clearly understood. If you brake *hard*, the ABS kicks in to prevent a lock-up of the wheels by pumping the brakes automatically via computer control. The point is that in a long emergency braking effort, you should apply maximum pressure straightaway and then hold that pressure. This will ensure that the ABS kicks in at the beginning of your braking effort and minimize the braking distance. If you do not apply full braking pressure immediately and then increase the pressure at a later point of time, that is when the ABS will kick in and your braking distance could possibly increase because the computers will not have enough time to pump the brakes optimally (maybe better to have a lock-up of the wheels at the end of the braking effort rather than to have the ABS kick in at that point, with not much distance left to avert a collision).
So, to summarize, with ABS present, if at all it kicks in, it should do so towards the beginning of the braking effort, with some distance left to stop. Otherwise the ABS should not kick in at all. Hence using the ABS correctly needs some practice, especially for old-timers who are already used to reacting in their own ways towards emergencies. I imagine it would be quite difficult to change these long-cultivated reflex reactions.
The problem, as I had mentioned in another thread, is that with ABS present and kicking in, it is more difficult to adjust your braking effort to utilze the full braking distance available - the computers only try to minimize the braking distance and not optimize it (say, in order to prevent rear-ending and to increase brake life). |