ABS V Non ABS

[Dead Eye]

I'm all for ABS, I'm not certain who said it the other day in a different thread but they hit the nail on the head imo with their comment; "ABS may not make you stop quicker, but it will make you stop safer" - I paraphrase a bit, but I think that sentiment holds true and most others have made comments in the same vein already. There's obviously some exception, but I still think it holds as a majority rule.

I've never had ABS until my most recent car, I think it's kicked in once since I've had it. But, having not had ABS before I've always had adapt and judge and have a feel for the brakes in my vehicles - sort of what noggy was saying, except not over 4 paragraphs My friend however, had always had ABS until he bought an old Mitsubishi FTO ('95)... he had issues with locking the brakes due to his past experience. He'd always been used to ABS being there and hadn't ever been in a situation where he was able to lock the brakes.

So, ABS sort of has a flaw in creating a reliance and the only way to avoid that is to make it mandatory on all new vehicles. This part is the grey area for me, I understand the concept and the logic, but it takes away a valuable learning experience in my opinion. Actually, the only other solution is to force new riders / drivers to train on vehicles that aren't equipped with ABS. But that leads in to another discussion entirely that goes along the same lines that all drivers should be made to experience riding a bike... to that my response is that all riders should be made to experience driving a car

My personal feelings for it are summed up perfectly by VNA;

Do I have it on my bike - no, does it bother me I ain't got it - no, would I like it, sure I would.