How do you stop quickly on an icy road w/ ABS? w/out ABS? (anti-lock breaking system)?

If you were driving down the icy road and needed to stop quickly in a short distance, how would you stop with an anti-lock breaking system? Without anti-lock, just regular brakes?|||To answer your question as asked- "How do you stop quickly on any icy road....?"


You don't stop quickly, regardless of whether you have ABS or not. You come to a controlled slow stop to prevent skidding, losing control of your vehicle and eventually crashing.


The driving instructor covered all of the steps, so I won't reiterate the steps involved.|||First of all "IF you were driving down the icy road", you should be aware of this icy road and reduce your speed, therefore decreasing your stopping (and skidding) distance.


Also you should increase your following distance in order that you save the front end of your vehicle from damage too, and keep your eyes on those brake lights ahead.


Depending on the type of weather and snow/ice cover you have will determine how long it takes you to stop.


If the temp. is just around the freezing point, there is more moisture present in the snow/ice and therefore the road surface will be "wetter" or more slippery.........like driving through a slurpee.


If the temp. is well below the freezing point, the moisture in the snow/ice is frozen and therefore the road surface will be "tacky" and you'll have a bit more traction.


When you brake on ice or snow, or any other time you have to stop quickly, using "threshold braking", which is applying the brake fast right down to the point before you lock up, and then ease up, will actually stop your vehicle in less distance than applying the ABS.


ABS brakes are intended for those who don't have the skills to handle a vehicle properly


ABS brakes were developed because drivers without proper skills panic, lock up the brake and then try to steer. By doing this they skid straight ahead (without ABS brakes).


If these unskilled drivers lock up the brakes (without ABS brakes), and then suddenly discover they are skidding straight ahead, they may (and oten do) come off the brake suddenly, which then takes them off in the direction they were steering (often across the median into oncoming vehicles).


ABS brakes work in a very high speed intermittent braking (on and off ) method, which allows some steering.


This helps correct driver error.


If you develop proper braking and steering techniques, you will know that you never brake and steer at the same time. You should of course try to brake, and then if you can't stop, you should come off the brake and steer around the object, looking where you want to go (your hands follow your eyes), and then brake again once you are straight and safe.


This is easy to say, but takes practice to develop technique.


Anti lock brakes are meant to be applied steadily, not pumped.


The next time you find an empty parking lot during winter conditions, try it. Measure how long it takes you to stop with both methods.


Good Question!|||For vehicles without ABS, you'll have to rely on the old-fashioned system....





For non-ABS on a mixed-surface road, push the brake pedal hard until the wheels stop rolling, then immediately release the brake enough to allow the wheels to begin turning again. Repeat this sequence rapidly.





This is not the same as "pumping the brake." Your goal is to have the tires producing maximum grip regardless of whether the surface is snow, ice or damp pavement.





With ABS brakes just hit the pedal thats it...|||with non abs you pump the breaks just enough to to where the brakes don't lock up


on abs your susposto to just hold the pedal down and you will feel it pulsate


but most abs systems are junk today and if you try pumping manually with a abs system vs just pushing down on the pedal and letting the system take over with the same car on the same road under the same conditions some cars will perform better with manual pumping of the breaks


on ice though your breaks are pretty much useless


without thinking though abs is better then if you slammed on the breaks on a non abs car


i switch back and forth so much i just get into the habit of treating the car like it has no abs





going slow and having good tires/traction is your best bet


in many cases the worst thing you can do on ice is to break hard or accelerate fast because this could cause the car to slide it is better to try to cruise(not use cruise control) over the patch until you get to a area that has better traction





goodluck|||With ABS, just stomp on the pedal and let the anti-lock brakes do the work for you. Without ABS, feather the brake pedal to the point of almost locking ( threshold braking ) but don't allow them to lock-up. If they do, you will not have any steering control. Either way though, it will take a long time to brake on ice. It is therefore very important to drive accordingly to conditions and keep your speeds down on slippery roads.|||abs..step on brake and steer....no abs...pump brake and steer...best to be going slow...vvvveeeerrry slow