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Have you wondered anytime why do we need the Anti lock Breaking System in cars? It is known that an experienced driver rarely resorts to emergency braking. And yet, no matter how hard you try, emergency situations happen to anyone who spends most of their life driving.
Car manufacturers are constantly improving their braking system and the progress is quite noticeable. If earlier, it took 60 meters for an automobile to stop from 100 km / h, today it is not uncommon to see a car, the stopping distance of which is 40 meters or even less especially, we are talking about some sports car having carbon-ceramic brakes like BMW M3! An important milestone in the field was the appearance of an anti-brake system (ABS) in 1978, preventing complete locking of the wheels.
As you might know, the maximum friction rest force is greater than the sliding friction force. Hence, if the wheel starts slipping, the possible braking force is less than the one in the case of no skidding. In addition, if a material body slides across another material body, then the friction transversely disappears. Consequently, a skidding car with locked wheels is completely uncontrollable. Therefore, experienced drivers manage to maintain self-control and brake intermittently, giving the wheels a turn. Whereas, the ABS with its impassive electronic brain is designed for beginners in the first place. The wheel rotation sensors transmit the information to the controller, and it periodically relaxes the braking force, preventing the wheels from locking. The braking distance is shortened, and besides the car remains steerable, so the driver has a chance to change the trajectory even with the brake pedal fully pressed.
The last generation of the ABS is capable of doing even more than that. Additional sensors of angular acceleration and of the steering angle of the wheel allow monitoring the correspondence of the real trajectory of motion and the one specified by the driver. If they diverge, the ABS helps the car by braking one or two wheels.
In addition, some vehicles equipped with the ABS now have the so-called “break assist” function. This is a device that automatically increases the force of pressing the brake pedal in case of emergency braking meaning that you can forget about your car ever skidding. This function and many other driving-assisting features available today are present in many modern cars including Toyota Corolla, Mercedes E-Class and so on.
If you are going to buy a car that does not have the ABS as standard, we strongly recommend that you not save on this system and get it because as we have said before, this is a highly useful thing that can save your life and the lives of your passengers.
If you have decided to service your own car equipped with the ABS system, you should keep in mind that a considerable pressure remains in the hydraulic lines for a long time and in order to reset it, it is necessary to press the brake pedal 20 times with the ignition off.