22 August 2002: Drivers who drink are much more likely to suffer injury or death because of improper use of antilock brake systems (ABS) in an accident situation, according to US researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University in the USA.

Davis Harless and G E Hoffer came to this conclusion after reviewing and updating research carried out in 1997 which showed that ABS systems saved a significant number of lives of non-occupants of the ABS-equipped cars, but perversely showed an increased risk of death for the drivers of cars so-equipped.

The review indicated that the problem of not using ABS properly (you're supposed to KEEP your foot down hard on the pedal and let the system do the work) resulting in subsequent deaths of the occupants was largely confined to drinking drivers.

The research update showed that the problem 'attenuated' after three or four years of vehicle service, indicating that more people learned how to react in a situation where antilock systems operated.

Meanwhile, a large survey of drivers in Britain this years has confirmed that ABS does have the potential to reduce the number of accidents, but shows that this has not been fully achieved. One reason, according to research led by Jeremy Broughton of the Transport Research Laboratory, may be that many drivers still have little or no knowledge of ABS.

This is reflected in the tendency in recent years for manufacturers to add automatic emergency brake assist to their systems, which detects when an emergency stop is in train and increases the pressure on the brake pedal.