Why ABS Is A Good Thing
(24 September 2007)
Although other technology has been introduced more recently, ABS is to my mind the the most significant safety feature fitted to cars in the last 25 years; yet the vast majority of drivers - possibly at least 90% - have not the slightest idea of its potential, or of how to use it.
Some of the advice on the subject is not altogether helpful. In a certain book on essential driving skills, it is said that ABS enables the driver to steer the car while braking, but that on wet and slippery roads it can be less effective. The reader is also advised, in more than one passage, to refer to the manufacturer's handbook. This is all rather vague.
In the handbook for my own car, the section on braking tells me that, compared with a car not fitted with ABS, mine enables me to retain optimal steering ability even with full brake application on slippery surfaces! This, in contrast to the driving skills book, is all rather positive.
In simple terms, ABS works like this: sensors detect the speed of each wheel on the car, and if, under braking, one of the wheels suddenly stops, brake pressure is released momentarily to allow it to regain grip. This may happen several times very rapidly, giving the characteristic vibration through the brake pedal.
Not everyone is aware of this. To my certain knowledge, customers who have recently bought a new car will frequently turn up in the dealer's service department a few days later complaining that the pedal vibrates every time they brake hard in the wet, and asking the mechanics to check the car to find out what is wrong.
The same issue is given as a reason why drivers with ABS in their cars have higher crash rates than those without. The driver assumes from the vibration that something has broken, and releases pressure on the pedal, with the obvious result that they are more likely to crash.
For people who are willing to keep pressing the pedal regardless, ABS has three major benefits: it allows the driver to stop the car more quickly in the wet (though not in the dry, except in extreme circumstances), to brake hard in the middle of a corner without the tyres losing traction, and to brake to maximum effect while simultaneously changing direction to avoid a potential accident.
It is also a potential tool for salesmen to demonstrate cars more effectively, though in my experience this is something most of them try to avoid, and in any case it is a strong possibility that they do not know how to do it.
I have, however, known it to be very effective. Some time ago I showed a salesman how to demonstrate ABS (which, despite opinions to the contrary, can be done safely on the public road) and he went on to use it in his sales technique. On one occasion when he did this, the customer immediately said, "Right, you can drive me back to the dealership right now."
The salesman told me later that his first thought was, "Oh my God, I've blown it." The customer, however, quickly assured him that this wasn't the case by saying, "After seeing you do that, I'm not going to order one of your cars - I'm going to order three!"
