Wanted to share this experience of mine recently while driving sx4 at 130 kms ph...

I had to rush home because my mom slipped fom stairs[didnt get too hurt]

while i was driving on an empty stretch a wagon R moving on the extreme right suddenly swirled left...the road was full of loose gravel due to rain wash...i had to steer left immediately while applying brakes to avoid going outta control...

guess what happened...the car became a death trap for those few seconds...all the tyres screached to my horror,thanks to the loose gravel...car swirled left and right finally coming to a hault after full 100 meters almost hitting the autorickshaw standing at the extreme left...[car was very much steerable]

MORAL OF THE STORY>>>Someone here was right...ABS doesnt mean the car will hault anywhere you want [although it tries harder than the normal car]...unless you are provided with clean stretch of road...

No doubt ABS saved my car and me,but on that loose gravel when the brakes were applied [although car was very much steerable] i felt,so miserable and miniscule, thank god the road was empty or else i would have killed few motorists...

I still wonder,why didnt someone on earth enlightened us with this important piece of information...guess somethings are better learnt than read...

MY VERDICT>>>never be overconfident about your ABS Technology,it does work miracles most of the times...but watch out when you are speeding...it might save you but might endanger someone elses life...

The point here is that i wanna stress majorly that ABS on loose gravel is deadly...never think the car will stop [although car tries to but the gravel acts like minute ball bearings]

I sicerely wish if you have faced a similar problem,do share your experiences...

NOTE:I am making clear that i am not implying that ABS technology doesnt work...but like man it also has limitations...

Thank you for reading...comments would be appreciated...

Doc,

I guess there seems to be a misunderstanding. ABS doesnt ensure faster braking.

It just prevents locking of tyres when you hard brake. Thereby removing the chances of skidding.

Good that you wrote this experience. Many ppl will get their wrong notions cleared up.

It's indeed a useful information. Good to hear everything ended safely. Even I was bit skeptical about ABS and i tried out some hard testing in some gravel only, I braked hard in one gravel road at 60 KM, and to my surprise the car halted straight without skidding in a very decent distance. Full dust around my car, but it stopped in a very decent manner. BUT the feel was different, it didn't give me full pulling back feeling as you sudden brake in a normal car. Even in the rain, i noticed, you have to apply full throttle, it will not give a pulling back feeling, making you feel it wont stop, but it stops and because of a loose braking feel i tend to keep more distance from the cars in front of me in slippery roads. Again speed is crucial, hard braking at 130 speed on any road because of something comes in your way, needs the luck factor to escape from an accident. If it's in rain or gravel or on slippery surface, don't go beyond, 60 or 80. Its fatal...

Remember, how much good road you are driving, there is always a chance of somebody or something getting into your way all of a sudden. Roads are getting better and better so the cars too, but human nature remains the same!! So be careful guys  

Thanks bij that was indeed helpful...

Hi Ami, I completely understand what ABS is for...The car automaticaly tries to balance the brake force between the tyres and tries not to skid...Whether you have ABS or not doesnt make diff here of what i have written...

The car applies the force to stop preventing skidding...but note that on gravel whatever you apply...with precision or without the car will become unmanueverable at high speeds despite of having ABS...

It doesnt skid that much but it does...

I am stressing again i really dont know what i experienced but it was something i dint expect at all...

Even though car might not have skid,thanx to ABS but i am again saying the car did become out of control for those few seconds...i did mention the car did skid because i heard the sound of it...it wasnt one of those sounds we hear when we apply brakes on loose earth but it was that of pure screatch...

What i am saying is that ABS is not fool proof...It does need a solid ground to actually work magic...hmm lets say what will ABS do when we apply brakes on oil surfaced road...unimaginable isnt it...!!!

This is what i wanted to stress...We can imagine what will oil on road do...similarly gravel is like tiny bearings...ABS doesnt work completely on them...stopping distance increases from a normal car on gravel...!!! This is what i have infered...

Moderators can you help??? Am i correct???

This topic is still open for discussion...because i am still tryin to do a research on what went wrong that day...

It did affect me...in the right way...and being a doctor i am trying to clear my mind to you people out there so that you dont come in this situation ever...

Thanks for reading...

The car was not on wet road...it was bright and sunny...:P

^[1While ABS offers improved vehicle control, and may decrease stopping distances on dry and especially slippery surfaces, it can also increase braking distance on loose surfaces such as snow and gravel ^].

EUREKA i was right in my inference...hmmm check out the link above...

Besides this ABS EBD works in accordance and are usualy diff way of putting technology..

Since initial widespread use in production cars, anti-lock braking systems have evolved considerably. Recent versions not only prevent wheel lock under braking, but also electronically control the front-to-rear brake bias. This function, depending on its specific capabilities and implementation, is known as electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), traction control system, emergency brake assist, or electronic stability control..

This was one crucial bit of knowledge...

EBD is awesome technology...

hmmmm but still in my mind i have a doubt regarding what happened that day...was it good enough for me...i guess the whole problem was the stopping distance...i might have expected the vehicle to get under control in a shorter distance but the car had other important issues to handle...LOL

But still EBD,ABS were trying to prevent roll,skid and oversteer...when i was expecting it to stop before it hits anything on the road...hmmm

I think this was the reason i was upset about...

Any comments???

source-WIKiPEDIA

Look at these beautiful videos from bosch for understanding ABS ...

ABS on wet surface...

All you want to know about

ABS, TC, ESP Full version

hi, am yet to check out the videos. i Will in a while. Firstly, Ami is right, good you posted your experience here. It will clear alot of misunderstandings. A lot of people get over confident because of ABS and Airbags. Before doing that one should exactly know how its different from not being there at all, and how far "Safety" is away from Extreme fool-proof prevention of devastating effects caused out of ones own Attitude.

OT- i know you were fine. And how was your car, was it totally fine too ?

Yeah true karan...

Everything turned out to be fine...

More or less when this thing was happening,i was saying to myself,"I am so sorry my babe"

This reference was too my car...I thought for those few milliseconds that no way on earth this car is gonna survive this incident,i will be safe due to airbags,but thinking bout the car i did evrything humasnly possible to prevent a collision...in this case i had nothing to do but to brake hard and try to steer...

well i drive with little more caution now...

Its just like how you feel while driving a bike on the curves after you have experienced a fall/skid on a gravel filled corner in your early days of driving...

I feel exactly the same on the curves now...

Well ,that's the most appropriate "feeling" that you just expressed. It really does feel like that.

Also i bet you might be thinking twice before touching extreme high speeds now. Accidents or "narrow escapes" at times makes one feel " had a been a little low, it would have been just perfect enough to completely avoid it

and yes, take care of that Sweetie !  The white babe looks really hot in the pics.