Re ABS, I'm not sure if this helps, but my daughter who's a "reasonable" driver, through her work, had a day at a BMW test track, with instruction.
She enjoyed it enormously, but one of her points was:
(I could be wrong with some details here, but the message is the same) In a medium speed swerving test with the BMW in use, where the trick was swerving and braking to go S-shape round cones, she obeyed the instructor's instructions (not used her instinct) and was fastest of all (mainly blokes).
She said the instructor said, she let the ABS + anti-skid do the job, whereas more experienced drivers tried to cope but weren't getting so near the limit.
In other words, ABS is less than perfect because it's only working intermittently (as you say), but maybe that's what you want when there's some lock on, to avoid an accident.
Of course, tho' it's less than perfect, it might "average' out better. And my daughter I suspect had a car with the anti-skid braking (ie independent for each wheel).
But the car was cleverer than "most people" (who weren't Drivers - capital D) in that one test.
Malc
PS The BMW I used to have had ABS brakes which I only ever used once. One day, in a drizzle on a down-hill bend, I spun completely 180 degrees on oil, lined up the car going backwards using the mirror, and thought, now for the ABS. I can report, they didn't have much effect going backwards on the wrong side of the road, but it didn't matter, as no-one was coming.
You don't believe me, do you? But it's true!