re: Most dangerous braking situation...(again)

["Bennett Moe" <bmoe@domain.elided>]

Ok,
Not to beat a dead horse here, but I still don't get why a rear lockup
is more dangerous than a front. I would think just the opposite. Here's
my logic:

A rear lockup in any four wheel vehicle will increase friction and drag
at the rear of the vehicle. The momentum of the vehicle will be carried
by the bulk of the weight, which will be in front of the rear axle.
Given this, the rear of the vehicle should follow (or be pulled) by the
front. Also, I would think that it would be far advantageous to be able
to maintain steering control of a vehicle. If the front locks up, not
only do you have no steering control, but the momentum of the mass of
the vehicle is now behind you, pushing the weight of the vehicle
forward. Thus the rear is trying to go faster than the front, causing
the spin, much like in a jackknife situation.

Of course, this assumes that there is some friction from the road
surface (and not addressing the differences between fwd, rwd, 4wd). In a
low friction environment, all bets are off. Am I right, wrong or just
reading these posts incorrectly?

On the issue of licensing, I have mixed feelings about raising the age
to get a license. On one hand, I know very well how poorly prepared and
irresponsible teenagers are (or can be, don't want to generalize too
much), after all I was one once upon a time and did my fair share of
*stupid* things. But then again, if it were not for my license at 16, I
would not have been able to participate in any extracurricular
activities at school or have a job, both of which I think contributed
mightily to my development into a well rounded adult (I know, that one
leaves me open to all sorts of comments).

What I do think we need is to have a more comprehensive (and difficult)
driving education training and license program. In MD, it is far too
easy to get a license. There is zero training (or at least wasn't when I
got mine and I don't think that it has changed much) for emergency
situations, accident avoidance, etc. etc.

My $0.02
-Bennett