On Nov 23, 2009, at 8:31 AM, Tamas Rudnai wrote:

> You do not know the right pressure till you skid..

Ahh.  The key point.  In the good old days, if you were likely to need  
"fancy braking skills", you would probably have the opportunity to  
PRACTICE (either intentionally or in real-life situations) in  
situations where you could skid out-of-control (or not) without  
massive destruction or injuries.

Thanks to increasing urbanization, population densities, and traffic  
levels, the first time you run into an emergency braking situation is  
likely to be when you REALLY NEED THINGS TO WORK.

I don't have a lot of experience, but I gotta say that it most cases,  
I'd vastly prefer somewhat longer braking distance over the complete  
loss of control you get once you lose contact with the "road"...

(Probably ABS comes into play more often in non-emergency braking  
situations; those cases where you step on the brakes to slow down and  
the roads are so slippery that you lose traction (and steering  
ability.))

(It seems to me that even if you retain control, it's going to take  
some experience and quick thinking to USE that control to avoid  
accidents.  I've seen people swerve onto a shoulder during somewhat  
strong braking maneuvers in traffic.  I haven't decided whether  
they're idiots or whether they've been taught a technique that I  
wasn't...)

BillW

-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist