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Re: Bumper Height, ABS, Air Bags, and Pseudo-Safety

To: "Glen R. Wilson" <railroad@itw.com>
Subject: Re: Bumper Height, ABS, Air Bags, and Pseudo-Safety
From: "U. Goettsch" <ulix@u.washington.edu>
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 11:07:36 -0700 (PDT)
On Sun, 21 Apr 1996, Glen R. Wilson wrote:

> Mark,
>
> I don't mean to jump all over you here, but your comments on the
> function of ABS _miss_ the point which is that brakes are supposed to
> stop the forward motion of the vehicle.
>
> You wrote:
>
> > The point of ABS is not to stop faster rather it is to keep the car
> > from going out of control during panic stops. Some cars more than
> > others tend to have the rear end pass the front end under panic braking
> > situations. ABS is used to prevent this situation as opposed to
> > stopping you faster. The big misconception is faster braking. If
> > braking causes the ABS to function then you are probably driving too
> > fast for the conditions. Then again, Mario Andretti said that if you
> > are in control then you are not driving fast enough.
> >
> > - -Mark "Why does my brake pedal always vibrate when I am stopping" Jurras
>
> The purpose of any braking system is to stop the car, and we usually
> need it to stop in as short a distance as possible.  I was traveling
> down a slight decline on a road glazed with black ice with a light rain
> falling.  I had lots of space between me and the stopped vehicle ahead.
>  I was going 35 mph and following at a distance of 1000 or 1500 feet.  I
> came around a bend and there was the stopped vehicle way up ahead. If
> I'd had any choice, I wouldn't have been out on the roads at all, but I
> had to get home from work.  There are many times when I'd have to admit
> that I was following too closely or going too fast for conditions, but
> this wasn't one of them.  The simple fact of the matter is that a
> high-tech system purposely permitted the wheels to continue to rotate in
> spite of the fact that I was pushing on the brake pedal thereby taking
> me out of the equation and effectively putting the car out of the
> driver's control.  This, in my opinion, is not what a braking system
> should do.
>
> Glen

In this case the ABS should have allowed you to brake AND steer around the
car in front of you (I prefer the ditch to a crash any day).
This either was impossible in your case, or you elected not to do so.

Ulix
                     __/__,__         ________/____,,_______
................... (_o____o_) ..... (___ O _________ O ___/ ..............
                    '67 Sprite             '66 Caddy


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