Based on the 100 metre long straight skid marks on the road before the impact with the street light when my son crashed my car soon after he got his licence I think ABS might have saved it from the accident.
1, ABS 2, No ABS Panic braking at same speed takes longer 3, ABS at slower speed 4, Threshold braking at the same speed as 3 take less distance than 3.
So yes confirms with Nick that yes you can stop quicker without ABS if you use threshold braking, but why did the guy demonstrate it at a slower speed? My view is probably because the higher the speed the harder it is to do threshold braking so he wanted less risk.
On a driver training course with a skid pan run for newly licensed drivers we had to change lanes between two rows on cones and then come to an emergency stop, the instructor said no way will the old RWD non ABS convertible do it but some how I did it and my son and no-one else did even though they were in modern FWD cars with ABS and probably other stability control. But I bet the only car badly damaged soon after was the old RWD non ABS convertible driven by a then over confident 17 year old
I used to race Mountain bikes on pretty hairy tracks and still ride a lot, I think on the bike I have pretty good skill at threshold braking either front or rear brake individually or both together depending on what I am doing, or just feathering the rear brake gently to get the bike to track a steep sharp corner much tighter, but like the skid pan I am prepared for danger and ready for it. In a car on the street the dangers come fro many direction and the speeds are faster and I am sure even after years of practicing threshold or pulse braking I would panic brake just like the second stop in the video.
I agree that poor Plus 4 was doomed because the driver reacted much too late regardless of the brakes, I also agree in a controlled situation it is possible to stop quicker, but unlike Nick I would chose the ABS equipped car any time if it was an option.
