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Old 09-22-2012, 09:40 AM   #17 (permalink)
Ryland
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
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honda cb125 - '74 Honda CB 125 S1
90 day: 79.71 mpg (US)

green wedge - '81 Commuter Vehicles Inc. Commuti-Car

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Air bags are designed to protect you when you are not wearing a seat belt, that is why some cars in the early '90's with automatic seat belts did not have air bags, they are their to save the people who can't figure out that it's a good idea to put a seat belt on!

Every automotive journal that I've read says that Anti-lock brakes increase your stopping distance and take away control from the driver, a lot of automotive magazines give stopping distances and slalom times with and without traction control being turned on and while traction control is more then just ABS breaks, you can see from those times that nearly every car that has an option where you can turn it off you can stop quicker and turn sharper, even more so in older cars.

But they all also seem to agree that ABS is a "good" idea for inexperienced drivers... but I've found that the best thing for inexperienced drivers is to learn to drive and learn how your car feels when it starts to go in to a skid! get experienced and learn to stop quicker then you would have with ABS breaks, learn to control the car instead of assuming that a little computer in their is going to control it better then you.

Some people scoff at the idea, but first slippery day of the season, take your car to an empty parking lot and relearn how to drive on a slippery surface! I've lived my whole life in northern Wisconsin and we get our share of snow, we also tend to get a nice mid winter freezing rain that leaves us with a layer of ice on all the roads for a few weeks.
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