A few handfuls of sliding snow in front of the tires is not sufficient to stop a moving car.
While this is true it changes significantly when you are talking about a heavy snow area that isn't in a warmer climate. Sure, a little 2"-6" dusting with pavement being possible to reach underneath it ABS will easily best non ABS. When you are dealing with 1' and over that has another hard pack layer of 2"-3" that you would need a semi to burn through non ABS stops
significantly better then ABS equipped vehicles. A couple of handfuls of snow doesn't do much, try using a push shovel on deeper snow and making it 100' in a few seconds, you build up a lot of resistance quickly. The situation can be comparable when talking about gravel also, but those types of situations are something few outside of contractors hauling large quantities of gravel are ever going to see.
Also, the quality of the ABS system matters greatly, although some people seem to ignore that. I was driving a Kia(the MB wannabe one, can't recall the name, POS) last winter helping a friend transport the car during a snow storm. I would have been
much better off if that car had no ABS at all in a borderline dusting(maybe 5" total). When invoked, the ABS intervened violently and too late, each tire taking a turn locking up for a breif bit before the computer caught up(and then completely released the brake). That car was by far the worst I've used, and ABS has saved my ass on a couple different occasions on ice(well, only going like 10MPH, but still, allowed me to maintain enough control to not hit anything). Overall I don't think it's worth having a switch to shut it off, too many people would while the percentage of time it would be off benefit is at best miniscule(how many people drive over deep snow or gravel regularly?).
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