ABS, or an anti-locking braking system, is a safety system installed in cars that prevents the wheels from locking up in the case of any emergency. However, recently, a YouTube channel named “Driven Media,” which is renowned for performing informative car experiments, has just come up with another intriguing experiment that has amazed the viewers. In the experiment, he demonstrated “whether a human can beat an ABS system” of the car or not. For this, the YouTuber has assessed the braking system when the ABS is on with two situations when ABS is off.
One is the race car driver having the ABS system off, and another one is the regular driver who drives the car with the ABS system off as well. Both of these cases were then evaluated with the car having the ABS system on and the YouTuber then recorded the results. A total of three trials were conducted and it was shown that when ABS was on, the car stopped at 34.93 m, covering a distance of 96kmh. Similarly, in the second phase, the car stopped at 35.11 m and in the third phase, the journey ended at 34.15 m.
After recording these results, the YouTuber then turned the ABS off and incorporated a regular driver and the race car driver, who was the professional one, into the experiment. Now here comes the principles of physics behind stopping the car with the brakes. This includes kinematics, laws of motion, and friction. However, in the first round, the distance covered by the car with ABS off was 45 m, then 42 m, and lastly, 39 m.
The experience was a bit rough when the ABS system was off due to the pressure exerted on the tyres. Also, the extreme friction probably damaged the tyres as stated by the driver in the video, and he could definitely do better. But with the anti-locking braking system off, this is all that we can expect. ABS makes a considerable difference to the braking system because you can clearly see in the video, that the car stopped at a distance of 34.45 m when ABS was on and at 39 m when ABS was off.
This video will give you a better understanding of why an anti-locking braking system is necessary and what kind of safety changes it incorporates. Watch the video embedded above for more details!
