TripleS wrote:Mock if you must (if that's what you're doing) but the plain fact is that some drivers have managed very well, and for a very long time, without such driver aids. It's not a matter of them claiming, or even believing, that they have what you call scintillating driving skills; but one might have the wit to accept that they have some ability which has done a pretty good job of keeping them out of trouble. It doesn't matter what it is, but if it is there and it has proved itself, it should not be dismissed lightly.
I'm not going to claim to have advanced car handling skills, bacause I know very well that I don't; but what I do think I have is a pretty good ability to evaluate road surfaces and confine myself to speeds that will not be excessive for the prevailing conditions. This can not guarantee total success, but I do not see the need to have ESP just in case I encounter a difficult situation at some point in the future. You make your own choice, and I will not criticise you for it, whatever it is. Have we got a deal?
Have you experienced ESP in action? have you experienced a major incident of skidding without it? Have you asked yourself what was to occur if you drove through a big puddle of motor oil in the dark, where it's bearly noticeable from afar?
I always try to develop my driving (and others) at several levels and alongside classic advanced driving (with it's stress on concentration, observation, planning and executing), I also developed said "car-handling skills" and even skills related to the course of action to be taken after you crash (ever practiced getting out of a rolled-over wreck?).
However, with both preventative skills and recovery skills, and in conditions far better than in the UK in terms of road grip and visibility - I value both ABS and ESP (and ARP, and EBD...) in gold. And my appreciation does not pass without criticism and I do discern the systems' limits, and still I find them terribly effective, and quite reliable over time.
Advanced driving, to me, is about layers over layers of protection. The first is pure statistics or "luck" as to not to be involved in a hazardous situation. The second and main one is observation to minimize the risk, but this only goes so far and sometimes the third layer of getting out of an emergency situation is needed an sometimes it's the car's passive safety that you fall back on. ESP and ABS offer an intermediate level of safety in between the last two, which I much appreciate.
Yes, I might get by without it. But drivers got by with ill-gripping cars in the twenties with steering columns that would pierce their sternum. Even today, I as an advanced driver, see very bad drivers get away with very bad driving habits even over a very long record of driving and with a lot of mileage. Is that any indication of doing things efficiently or just (or leastways "in part") a result of the said black arts of statistics?