A Comprehensive Light Vehicle Antilock Brake System Test Track Performance Evaluation

To determine if situations and/or conditions exist in which ABS-equipped vehicles do not perform as well as those without ABS, the braking performance of nine passenger vehicles was observed over a comprehensive array of driving conditions.

For most maneuvers, on most surfaces, ABS-assisted stops yielded distances shorter than those made with the ABS disabled. The one exception was on loose gravel where stopping distances increased by an average of 27.2 percent overall. Additionally, the vehicular stability observed during testing was almost always superior with ABS. For the cases in which instability was observed, ABS was not deemed responsible for its occurrence.