Looked like he locked them up from the smoke coming off his tires. I guess he should have left that ABS fuse in place

 

viper driver is an IDIOT. You would be thinking the same if you were the one that got rear-ended like that and going to a chiropractor.

 

The Viper didn't get ABS until 2001 FYI.

This is probably a 96-00, but at the best its an 8 year old Chrysler product so who knows.

 

Rear-ending the car at XX mph with the brakes locked wouldn't be much worse than hitting it at (XX - 0.5) mph with ABS modulating them.

 

Regardless of your opinion of ABS and its effectiveness, he slid for a solid 3+ seconds - locked up and in a straight line. While its near impossible to say he wouldn't have hit the car, had he not locked them up he would have had a much, MUCH better chance with ABS. Situations like the one in the video are the reason is so prevelant on todays cars and for most drivers, especially in emegency situations, when used correctly, saves their asses.

This is no different than the VSA discussion that never dies on S2ki, only with something I thought was pretty well accepted as a beneficial/useful contribution to the automotive world..

 

^Agree. I hate ABS but I will keep it just for the 'panic' occasion. I think if youre on the track and you're expecting the brakes to lock up you can modulate it as ABS would, but for those "OH SHIT" moments ABS > you

 

that explains alot

 

Ouch, that sucks big time.

Dan

 

but abs doesn't do much for stopping distances on dry pavement. all abs does is allow you be able to steer the car. so even if he had abs he still probably would have had the accident

 

Once he commited to the right lane, pulled up to the guy in the middle and THEN saw the stopped traffic, he was doomed... ABS or no.
Looks like he hit the inside wall too before the van.
Sad... and probably a total as the hood alone is like 15k.