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ntilock systems to address different braking needs when vehicles are loaded versus unloaded. The antilocks monitor the rotational speeds of rear wheels only and release pressure to both when either is about to lock. Tractortrailers have separate antilock systems for the tractors and the trailers. Ideally, both the tractor and trailer of a bination rig should have antilock brakes, but putting antilocks on either ponent should produce improvement pared with conventional brakes. With antilocks on the tractor only, a driver can maintain better steering control even if trailer wheels lock and the trailer swings. If only the trailer has antilocks, trailer swing can be reduced even if steering control is lost. Why don39。What are antilock brakes system? Antilock brakes are designed to help drivers avoid crashes. Without antilocks, hard braking can cause wheels to lock, sending a vehicle into a skid. Wheel lockup can result in longer stopping distances, loss of steering control and, when road friction is uneven, loss of stability if the vehicle begins to spin. The main advantage of antilocks is that they can reduce these problems on wet and slippery roads. Antilocks work with a vehicle39。s normal service brakes to decrease stopping distance and increase the control and stability of the vehicle during hard braking. The principle behind antilocks is that a skidding wheel provides less stopping force and control than a wheel that is rotating. Antilocks prevent wheels from skidding by monitoring the speed of each wheel and automatically pulsing the brake pressure on any wheels where skidding is detected. Antilocks don39。t antilocks reduce stopping distances as much on dry roads as wet ones? Adequate braking is easy to achieve on dry roads with or without antilock brakes. Even if wheels lock, the coefficient of friction between tires and road surface still is relatively high, so a vehicle stops relatively quickly. It is even possible on some surfaces to stop sooner without antilocks than with them, although such instances are rare. They occur, for example, when loosely packed snow or gravel creates a dam effect in front of locked wheels, shortening the stopping distance more than antilocks could. Do car antilocks reduce crashes? Although car antilocks perform well on the test track, it is unclear whether they have made significant reductions in the number of ontheroad crashes. A 1994 Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) study1 and a subsequent 1995 study2 pared insurance claims for groups of otherwise identical cars with and without antilocks, finding no differences in the overall frequency or cost of crashes for which insurance claims for vehicle damage are filed. Because antilocks should make the most difference on wet and slippery roads, researchers also studied insurance claims experience in 29 states during winter m