Decelerations for vehicles with anti-lock brake systems (ABS) during wet-to-dry transitions on asphalt and concrete road surfaces.

The braking performance of newer anti-lock braking systems (ABS) equipped vehicles on roads with varying wetness levels is not well studied. Two late-model ABS-equipped vehicles were used to perform ABS-engaged braking tests on dry and wet asphalt and concrete surfaces from which vehicle speed and deceleration as a function of time were calculated. Tests were initially conducted on a dry surface before a water truck distributed water onto the road to create a wet road condition. A continuous series of tests were then performed until the road dried and the cycle was repeated multiple times. Across all tests of both vehicles on both road surfaces, deceleration levels generally decreased when the road was wet and returned to dry levels only when less than 25% of the road surface remained wet. Also, wet deceleration levels were high compared to the historical values used for wet roads. These findings provide a useful and readily identifiable boundary between what can be considered a dry and wet road from the perspective of choosing a maximum deceleration level when reconstructing collisions involving ABS-equipped vehicles during ABS-enabled braking.