I'm glad I have ABS

For the first time today I actually called upon ABS for real.

Two lanes of stationary traffic in the opposite direction, and I was travelling down a single lane that was pretty empty, with the inside lane being closed off as oldham mbc turn it into a bus lane . Gap in the traffic in the opposite direction where people have stopped to let vehicles across from a side turning on the opposite side of the street. A large van is on the closer side of this gap to me in the closer stream of traffic. As I approach, a clio appears from behind the van, looks, and pulls into my lane, no problems. 5 seconds later, as I draw up to this gap (at about 20mph), a transit van comes straight out, no stopping to look or anything.

Slam on the brakes, and by happy chance there was a break in the roadwork barriers on the left coinciding with the entrance to a car dealership, so I dive in that general direction, narrowly avoiding the transit.

A general nasty smell was evident soon after, which I assume to be a mixture of tyres and brake pads.

ABS was a feature that I looked for (and one of the things in the galant's favour as it's a standard feature), and I will NEVER buy a car without it.

 

nice one,sounds like a near miss

just remember that ABS doesn't reduce braking distances,that many believe,it will just give you a chance of keeping control of the car under a heavy load

the nasty smell will have been tyres,brake pads smell lovely,best part of a track day is the smell of burnt pads

 

I know it doesn't reduce braking distance. In fact, it may increase it slightly, but you retain steering control without the presence of mind to use cadence braking. In this case, being able to swerve into the gap on the left was decisive.

 

its always a good option to try to steer out of trouble rather than brake into it.
abs gives you both.

 

lol,cadence braking, you are better driver than me to have even considered it in the split second you had

sounds like you didn't panic and controlled it well,most drivers would have just panicked and anchored on,me included probably