![]() ![]() But does everyone actually take this to heart – and go apply it in a safe, empty parking lot so he or she knows how to react in an actual emergency? To be fair to the DMV – it is probably on page 129 of the driving manual that you can pick up as a “study aid” before taking the written test. They didn’t teach me how to correct understeer, how to properly rock the car out of snow, or what to do when the car begins to skid. Today’s road driving test (as of 2005 when I took mine, at any rate) consisted of about fifteen minutes in a parking lot along with some time on back residential streets with a police officer riding shotgun. In the case of most drivers (assuming that we are talking about lowest common denominator here), the answer is probably yes. The reasons for installing these systems appear obvious – it’s vastly more difficult to control a vehicle when the wheels are locked up.īut is it safer? The answer is both yes and no. This results in an odd “chirp-chirp-chip” sound coming from the wheels and a serious shudder that is often transmitted through the steering wheel – that’s the ABS working properly. Once the wheel is turning normally again, the computer will reapply the brake, rinsing and repeating until the car stops moving. The automaker installs a little speed sensor on each of the four wheels – and when one or more wheels suddenly stops moving (indicating that the driver has pressed the brake too hard, causing the wheel to ‘lock up’), the car’s computer will over-ride the driver’s braking and release the brake momentarily, enough for the wheel to re-establish traction. First commonly used in the early 1970’s on cars, the idea is brilliant in theory. These ideas can include, but are not limited to, Marxist economics, Prohibition of alcohol in the ’30s, New Coke, the Ford Edsel, filling the Hindenburg with hydrogen, building the city of New Orleans below sea level, the chump who sued McDonalds over its hot coffee, high fructose corn syrup, and countless others truly terrible ideas over the years.Īdd to that list anti-lock brakes on cars, commonly known as ABS. SOMETIMES, an idea that’s brilliant in theory is completely rubbish in practice. ![]()
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