How to drive safely in a skidding car
Careful driving can only happen when you are educated on how to handle all possible contingencies. Learning how to navigate your vehicle safely when skidding is one of the many potentially dangerous things a driver can deal with. However, you can know exactly how to easily get out of such a situation without any problems.
Know what a skid is. Your car skids when the front or rear wheels lose their “grip” or traction on the road. No matter how much you turn your car to where you want to go, the car now slides to either side. This means your brakes won’t work well and neither will your steering. The car, for the moment, is out of control. This is called “jackknifing.
Know about losing traction on the rear wheels. When the rear wheels lose traction, your car will lose steering. This causes the front of your car to turn to the left or right of where you want to go. Usually this is caused by a combination of thin surfaces and high speeds or poor steering or braking. Oversteer is also called losing steering.
Understeer is also called understeer. This is a skidding of the front wheels that usually happens when you are turning and at high speed. In this case, your car begins to slide to where the weight of the car is carried by the sidewalls of the wheels, where there is no traction to hold on to the road. You lose the ability to control the steering wheel and the force of the rear wheels pushes you out of the turn straight instead of into a curve and often straight into the cars in front of you.
Take your foot off the accelerator and brake immediately when you start to feel any kind of skid. The accelerator can only get you into more trouble at that point and the brakes won’t be of any help. Your first priority during these instances is to slow the vehicle down. That’s the only way to regain control of the car. Don’t take your hands off the steering wheel. Hold it gently in the direction you want the car to go. Do not turn the steering wheel sharply or you will cause the car to skid more.
Apply a little brake pressure after you feel the car slow down when you are recovering from understeer (loss of front wheel traction or skidding). Then, if the car slides in a straight line when you try to turn, you will need to apply gentle pressure on the brakes as you decelerate. Don’t jump on the brakes or you could make the skid worse or start spinning.
Apply only a little pressure on the throttle after you start to brake, when recovering from understeer, which is when the rear wheels slip. Again, don’t jump on the brake and don’t turn the steering wheel, just turn gently to help regain some traction.
Practice getting out of the skid in a wide, empty parking lot when it’s raining. Make sure you can be there and avoid lampposts. If you are still a novice driver, be sure to ride with an older or experienced driver.
Tips
Learn about skids before they happen! Practice them in safe places with someone supervising you if you are a minor so you can be prepared when it happens.
Warnings
Never turn a steering wheel or jump on the brakes when skidding. It will make it harder to regain control of your car.