I live in the south.

Brakes aren’t a switch. You don’t slam on them at every turn, you apply them progressively and gradually. Better brake pads eliminate fade and give you a more consistent pedal feel. You can fry your brakes without coming close to locking up the tires if your pads are crap.

The brakes are designed to lock the tires... Once. When you are doing repeated heavy braking, the heat can pretty quickly overwhelm the brakes and you lose almost all effectiveness. So, better brakes can be an advantage even if you don’t lock up the tires.