Re: a tribute to my Dak's ABS

From: Rob Agnew (ragnew@islandnet.com)
Date: Tue Oct 07 1997 - 07:37:19 EDT


At 12:19 AM 4/12/97 -0400, you wrote:
>My 97 Dakota is the first vehicle I have owned with ABS. I have the 4-wheel
>ABS system on my truck. Today I had to put the ABS to the test. I was
>cruising down a residential street at about 40 mph when a little girl about
>5-years-old came right out in front of me on her little bike. My first
>reaction was to jam the brakes hard. The ABS kicked in and stopped the
>truck in a very short distance without any lock-up and with very little
>pedal vibration. There's no doubt in my mind that if I was still driving my
>89 T-bird (without ABS) that I would have slid right into the little girl.
>I can thank my dakota and the people at Chrysler (or Bendix) for preventing
>the possible injury or death of a little girl. The worst part of the
>incident was that her mother was standing in the yard and saw the entire
>thing unfold. I've never seen such terror in the face of a human before.
>I'm very grateful.
>
>==========================================
> Andy Callahan
> quasideedle@uky.campus.mci.net
> '97, V8, CC, Sport, 3.55, 5-speed, 4x2
> Tire & Handling Package
> All the little goodies
>==========================================
>
Andy:

Glad to hear you're happy with you 4 wheel ABS system. I investigated ABS
and decided the 2 wheel system for my 97 was best for me. It certainly
keeps the truck straight and I have to make a real effort to lock the front
wheels, even on wet pavement.

One of the cons for ABS is that it makes people overconfident ... my
question for you ... no nastiness intended... is what are you doing driving
down residential streets at 40 mph? Where I live, on residential streets
the maximum speed is 30 mph OR a speed at which is safe for the conditions
(lesser speed). I drive residential streets at 20 mph... my son was hit on
his bike on our street by a driver not paying attention. Lucky for us (and
the driver), my so was wearing his bicycle helmet and only suffered a mild
concussion after rolling over the hood of the car. And yes, the driver was
at fault.
Rob Agnew
ragnew@islandnet.com

Victoria,
British Columbia
Canada

 



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