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Thread ID: 136408	2014-02-26 05:47:00	Electronic Stability Control.	mzee (3324)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1368804	2014-02-26 20:33:00	I have mixed feelings about this sort of thing, on the one hand I don't like laws telling me what I have to do to protect me from myself as opposed to punishing people for committing crimes. On the other hand it seems like it's necessary in some cases and is not just about me. Bicycle helmet laws for example, I don't want to wear one, I have my doubts about the usefulness of a scrap of polystyrene only really protecting from impact on an unlikely angle, and I don't see that I'm hurting anyone by not wearing one. Then on the other hand I totally agree kids should wear one and I don't think it's fair on the poor bastard who cleans up the mess if I have an accident if I don't so I do. I might grumble about it occasionally and hate the look of the thing, but I wear it. As for stability control it's a safety feature, it can save lives, manufacturers are moving to it anyway on a lot of models, what's the big deal? It doesn't make a car harder to drive or really have much of an effect unless you are cornering hard. As pointed out there are a lot of Idiot drivers around, if this saves an emergency services worker from having to scrape even one person off the road I call it a win. If someone has an accident because it fails how is that different from any other mechanical failure causing an accident? It's an owners responsibilty to keep their vehicle in a safe condition. As for ABS, it is a lot more than a slight advantage. Slam the brakes on with one wheel in gravel without it and see what happens. From personal experience I can tell you when you are in an accident knowing how to brake properly can be irrelevant. You know you are about to hit something, panic kicks in, you attempt to push the brake pedal through the floor. Later on when the nerves have calmed you realise you should not have acted that way. ABS may well have prevented the impact. The tiny amount of time it takes to realise you need to ease off or pump the brakes is often more time than you have.	dugimodo (138)
1368805	2014-02-27 03:14:00	Just more car does it for you stuff. Means the new drivers won't learn much, then again might not kill anyone either. I do think you should have lessons in an old style car first.	pctek (84)
1368806	2014-02-27 05:08:00	Just more car does it for you stuff. Means the new drivers won't learn much, then again might not kill anyone either. I do think you should have lessons in an old style car first. I can tell you from personal experience, that all the theory and practice mean absolutely nothing if you panic like I did. It all goes out the window.	plod (107)
1368807	2014-02-27 06:33:00	I've always called it Stupidity Control. Heh. Or perhaps stupidity creation is a better term. People should have to learn how to do something properly, it keeps intelligence levels high, that sort of thing. Hmm. When we start making things that think for us, we become idiots. ABS I can understand the point of, but if you are going so fast around a corner that you would crash without Stability Control then you're probably doing it wrong.	Agent_24 (57)
1368808	2014-03-01 08:49:00	Its not Stupidity Control, its lack of experience. I can remember coming home from a stag party many. many years ago and doing a 180 degree spin in the gravel on an intersection onto a main highway, at some ungodly hour in the morning. That experience made me a much safer driver, and I have learned to save my ass in many ways after that(especially driving!), without endangering anyone. These days traffic density is much greater, chances of being pinged is higher, and cars go a lot faster and main highway intersections (mostly) don't have a lot of gravel. Its just plainly much more dangerous (to everyone) to get your driving experience on the road these days. I would say many drivers today would not have the faintest idea what to do in a "sustained loss of traction" situation. Think of the traction control of modern cars as the programs we have on our computers today. Instead of pencil and paper, the computer can take us to much high levels of thought and effectiveness much more accurately. The same way our modern cars can save us from many of our mistakes and inexperience. Mind you the time is coming when the question will be asked. "Is the servant as good as his master?":)	PPp (9511)
1368809	2014-03-02 03:23:00	I can tell you from personal experience, that all the theory and practice mean absolutely nothing if you panic like I did. It all goes out the window. sounds like your the only person in this thread who actually has driving experience. i'm much the same, if you have time to pulse the brakes to stop them locking up then your not doing an emergency stop. As for ABS, it is a lot more than a slight advantage. Slam the brakes on with one wheel in gravel without it and see what happens. your showing lack of experience here. the one time where abs is a big disadvantage is locking the wheels on gravel. locking the wheels actually helps stop you quicker on gravel roads. this is also where stability control is a massive advantage in keeping the car under control. the only thing i dislike is not having the ability to easy turn the systems on/off. ie turn off abs for gravel/offroad. at the end of the day anything that helps everyone else not to hit me is a good thing.	tweak'e (69)
1368810	2014-03-02 03:27:00	sounds like your the only person in this thread who actually has driving experience. i'm much the same, if you have time to pulse the brakes to stop them locking up then your not doing an emergency stop. your showing lack of experience here. the one time where abs is a big disadvantage is locking the wheels on gravel. locking the wheels actually helps stop you quicker on gravel roads. this is also where stability control is a massive advantage in keeping the car under control. the only thing i dislike is not having the ability to easy turn the systems on/off. ie turn off abs for gravel/offroad. at the end of the day anything that helps everyone else not to hit me is a good thing. :+1: :clap :clap	johcar (6283)
1368811	2014-03-02 06:28:00	Only problem is this will conflict with Darwins law of natural selection. The stupid gene will not die out as stupid people with stability control will not be killed when they go to fast into corners as they were in the past. This leads to these stupid people still breeding and having stupid offspring. And maybe, just maybe, some of those stupid people won't end up killing someone who isn't all that stupid?	Cato (6936)
1368812	2014-03-02 09:24:00	s your showing lack of experience here. the one time where abs is a big disadvantage is locking the wheels on gravel. locking the wheels actually helps stop you quicker on gravel roads. this is also where stability control is a massive advantage in keeping the car under control.at the end of the day anything that helps everyone else not to hit me is a good thing. Well I'd agree but I didn't say on a gravel road, I said with one wheel in gravel - as in one wheel off the side of the road and the other 2 or 3 on seal. If you panic brake in that situation you are likely to find yourself spinning, ABS doesn't stop that but it makes it less likely and the car easier to keep straight even though it will still pull to one side.	dugimodo (138)
1368813	2014-03-02 19:00:00	I can tell you from personal experience, that all the theory and practice mean absolutely nothing if you panic like I did. It all goes out the window. Driving in old cars makes you cautious in the first place. You learn to wait before pulling out - not booting it in front of oncoming traffic. You learn to follow back from the cars in front - old style brakes required a bit of stopping time. You learn to take it easy in bad conditions or dodgy roads. Yep, you can still panic but driving safely in the first place helps a bit.	pctek (84)
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