Preliminary evaluation of the effectiveness of antilock brake systems for passenger cars

Original publisher: Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, [1994] OCLC Number: (OCoLC)236488379 Subject: Automobiles -- Antilock brake systems -- Evaluation. Excerpt: ... ineffectual. The net benefit is close to zero, because significant reductions in pedestrian impacts and wet-road multivehicle crashes are nullified by significant increases in run-off-road crashes. These preliminary results need to be viewed with caution for several reasons. The principal observed effects, both positive and negative, although statistically significant and consistent fran State to State, are quite high compared to what is usually seen in evaluations of crash avoidance measures. The increase in run-off-road crashes is surprising in view of the good performance of ABS in stopping tests. Further study is needed, such as interviews with drivers of ABS-equipped cars that were involved in run-off-road crashes, or stopping tests that involve combinations of hard braking and abrupt steering, before the increase can be unequivocally attributed to the ABS system and / or the driver's interaction with ABS. The EARS samples in this report were sometimes too small for conclusive results. The data comprise the initial years of exposure of the first groups of cars equipped with ABS; results could change as drivers gain more experience with the ABS in these cars, or for later cars with different ABS systems. The results of this report apply only to passenger cars and should definitely not be extended to light trucks equipped with four-wheel ABS. The effectiveness of four-wheel ABS for light trucks will be estimated when sufficient accident data become available. Kill