<VV> Re: ABS BRAKES AND SPYDER DASH

[Bill Elliott]

I think Tim and others have adequately discussed the limitations of 
ABS... but agree that on the whole for the average driver in real world 
situations, ABS is indeed well worth the cost/effort. I feel the same 
about airbags... I've never had to use one but that doesn't mean I think 
it was a waste of money...

I wanted to add what I found to be an interesting side aspect... 
(assuming it's true... I've not been able to confirm). Most insurance 
companies stopped giving ABS discounts because losses in ABS equipped 
cars weren't lower than non-ABS cars.

They blamed this on two things:

The first is not surprising... armed with ABS brakes, many drivers drive 
more aggressively, leaving less room for stopping. So while the brakes 
might stop faster, the end result is similar.

The second reason was the more interesting (and less confirmed). I read 
that ABS cars had slightly higher losses in "other than one car" 
accidents... and the theory was that it was because the driver was able 
to still steer under heavy braking... and tended to steer INTO stuff 
(like other cars) than sliding out of control in the natural arc of 
travel... I can see how that would be possible (and how two $30k cars 
hitting each other might result in higher losses than one $30k car 
hitting a tree), but I'm not sure the differences would be very noticeable.

I know that despite the dollar amount of damage in general I'd rather 
hit a movable vice an unmovable object! ;-)

Bill Elliott

>on abs brakes , the first time you stop in a straight line, in a pinch, on  
>glare ice , instead of whacking something ,you will be glad you have them!. the 
> hard thing to do was to get used to just holding down the pedal down, not  
>pumping it (too many different cars here at the time) on the abs cars only. 
>they  have saved us more than once here in the snowy, icy  central ny area.
>regards, tim colson
>
>  
>


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