I agree that it can be a big help in panic situations, and on icy roads it will prove shorter stopping distances, given a driver that simply mashes the pedal to the floor as most people will do in a panic. Unfortunatly, a large number of drivers these days only know how to react to potential crashes by stomping the brakes hard and closing their eyes. It's lots of fun when someone misses a stop sign, sees you coming and stops dead in the middle of an intersection, leaving you nowhere to go but into them, when hitting the gas could have resulted in a near miss... I chalk it up to poor drivers ed, but thats a whole different topic
So back on topic here.. A skilled driver, with standard brakes can and is just as effective by controlling wheel lock up. Ask any auto crosser who used to drive Nissan Sentras with 1st gen abs how much they liked hitting an apex hard on the brakes, having the inside rear tire lift, and all the sudden the outside front brake lets go when the abs kicks in! I'll tell you it's not fun.(and requires clean shorts
) Also I'm hard pressed to come up with any motorsports that use abs, WRC, Indy, F1, and NASCAR don't to the best of my knowledge. But beyond all that, I simply don't like the way abs works for my driving style. Not to mention when something goes wrong with an abs system. Try stopping a full size van in the rain when the abs pump fails, leaving you with only rear brakes, and the day I get in a Benz with electronic brakes.. Yeah right, what happens to them if there's an electrical failure?(serious question here, I don't know, but the thought scares me) But hey, we all have our own opinions, and I'm not trying to be rude, or discount your opinion, just offer a different perspective.
Oh yeah, as far as tampering, as long as the brake system is operating properly after removing the abs, and there is an accident it's a non issue. Brakes are brakes, abs or not, they either work or they don't. Now if I change out the abs, the brakes fail, and I cause an accident thats another story.