|
Well, Zee, like I said,it depends on your situation. If you are skidding in a straight line and ABS has engaged and you are not in danger of colliding with an object, then keep your foot firmly on the brake pedal while ABS is engaged, and you will stop eventually.
If you ARE in danger of colliding, then you should keep your foot firmly planted and attempt to steer around the object in a controlled manner.
This advice comes from my own personal experience with my parents' BMW 525i. Last year it snowed, and the roads were slippery. The ABS came on, and like what I was told to do, I kept my foot firmly planted. The light had just turned red, and it was very clear that my car was going to keep on going forward right through the light even with my foot planted on the pedal and the ABS fully engaged. At that point, I looked in both directions, saw traffic coming from my left (but at a slow pace) and proceeded to run through the red light while ABS was on, but changed lanes into the right side just in case.
You are right, without ABS, the car either would have gone straight forward regardless of my steering, or it would have fishtailed (rear end swings out) and I would have done a 180 or 360.
But the fact remains that after that experience, I did a little brake stomping on some empty slippery roads, and I came to the conclusion that ABS INCREASES stopping distance in all cases BUT allows you to retain control of your vehicle (steering and no fishtailing) so it is a tradeoff.
--
Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'
|
