Ran over a patch of ice this morning (with my passenger side tires), and when I hit the brakes, the ABS system immediately engaged??

I was only going some 10 mph, and the sound/pulsating brake pedal freaked me out for a split second there.. (i've used the ABS before on some hard stops, but never @ like 10-15 mph).. Is this normal..

Out of curiosity, how does the car detect "slippage", and is "slippage" a real word, or did I just make it up?


-Tom

PS.. no traction control..

 

there is a sensor at each wheel, that when the computer detects a discrepancy of rotations of any wheel, it activates the ABS, I doesn't matter if you are going 10mph or 140 mph (that might be hard though). That is why it's not recommende that you put different size tires on the front or the back, because it will mess up the ABS computer sensors, and wont know weather the cars brakes are locking up or are just spining at a different rate. Hope that helps!

 

Speaking of "slippage", I have traction control and due to the great winter weather recently, I noticed something REALLY stupid about it. When the car is slipping, the light "SLIP" comes on telling me I'm slipping. What the F is up with that? It's almost like a pre accident warning! I don't want to know, it just freaks me out even more! And with these crapy bridgestone tires, I'm even more screwed.
Thanks, I feel better for venting now...