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I've tapped someone twice in my driving career, both were some of the largest lessons i've learned behind the wheel.

First one was due to inattentiveness/distraction by occupants when I came up to a stop sign. I was 16 or 17 and drove across the metropolitan area at rush hour on a friday, only to tap a guy less than a mile from my house. Someone I made put a seatbelt on earlier in the trip had taken it off again and hit the windshield at a 5mph accident. No damage to his car, my hood was bent and windshield broke, the other guy didn't have any damage so he was fine with leaving.

Second incident I was driving down Madison Ave in Mankato, a busy two lane road that goes through the main shopping areas. It was summer, my tires had seen better days too. I was following at a normal traffic distance, and the road had some gravel/wear on it. A lifted, piped, stickered up pickup was zipping between lanes cutting people off and what not, just to get slightly ahead. He jumped right infront of the car ahead of me just before a light, causing them to nail the brakes, and me to engage ABS and slide into them at 5-10mph. This one involved insurance...

What have I learned?
- You'll never forget that sound of the crunch. Crashing sucks, but everyone is ok, so now it's up to you to avoid that.
- Tires are the most important safety equipment you can have,
- Always leave good space between you and the car ahead. Even stopped at lights.
- Be VERY defensive and proactive on the road, especially in bad weather. Know who's around you, observe bad habits, don't put yourself next to risky situations.
- Minimize distractions in the car.

Personally I dont think ABS is all that great in snow anyway. On dry and wet pavement yeah but snow covered roads theres basically NO STOPPING. Ill take plain old brakes any day over ABS on a snow covered road.

DCJREDLINE wrote:Personally I dont think ABS is all that great in snow anyway. On dry and wet pavement yeah but snow covered roads theres basically NO STOPPING. Ill take plain old brakes any day over ABS on a snow covered road.

There should be an override switch just like there is for traction.

It's been a while since I was on here but *dang*, I know how you feel since I just had this happen to me not too long ago. Jason's post pretty much nailed everything I was gonna say. As both Will and Lucas mentioned, if there's anything I can do to help, you got it.

DCJREDLINE wrote:Personally I dont think ABS is all that great in snow anyway. On dry and wet pavement yeah but snow covered roads theres basically NO STOPPING. Ill take plain old brakes any day over ABS on a snow covered road.

I find that ABS helps allow you to hit your brakes and still have control, where some people may accidently lock them up and go into a slide (like the guy that ruined my old Focus) and have 0 control over what they are trying to do. As for stopping power, I agree ABS doesnt help at all, I find it actually makes it worse some times.

Like I said on the other thread, ABS is only as good as the tires on the ground...

So now I have to wait longer to get my car back from the bodyshop, because the third-party bumper that the insurance had bought was cracked during install, so now I have to wait while they get an OEM bumper and do it all over again. So I guess the good is im getting an OEM bumper after all.