What to do if my car goes into a skid?

harveybobbles

Driving test should include:

Skid pan driving.
Changing a wheel.
Checking the levels.

It annoys me when people in this kinda weather feel like they need to drive at 10mph on main roads. Yes the roads are slippy, but you can soon get upto 30mph and drive quite normally with some thinking ahead/reading the road.

DaveMacD

harveybobbles wrote: »

Yes the roads are slippy, but you can soon get upto 30mph and drive quite normally with some thinking ahead/reading the road.

Most people nowadays can't read the road in the good weather....

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

mikey72 wrote: »

If the car is understeering, steering into the skid will start the wheels rolling in the direction of travel, and will regain traction faster than continuing to slide sideways on the ice.

If you lose all control, who's to say the striaght line in a good one anyway, regaining traction may give you some control, so lifting off is better.

And how will you know which direction your wheels are pointing?

BTW your second bit of advice is quite dangerous, and should be ignored. A car sliding in a straight line is predictable. A spinning car which might regain traction at any point is not.

bear1969

pew pew if they dont know how to get out of a skid they prob wont know what under and oversteer is either

mikey72

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

And how will you know which direction your wheels are pointing?

BTW your second bit of advice is quite dangerous, and should be ignored. A car sliding in a straight line is predictable. A spinning car which might regain traction at any point is not.

The wheels follow the steering wheel, if I move it to the left they point left, if I go to the right they point right.
Keeping a skid going for as long as possible is dangerous, you haven't decided the direction, you may not be going forward any more, it may be really bad in that direction, so regaining some control of your fate is always better than relying on the airbags.
(How does your "spinning" car go in a straight line anyway?)

C_Mababejive

Dont get into a skid...simples...

Paradigm

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

It depends. If the car is understeering, back off the accelerator, keep the steering wheel in the same position, and traction will eventually be regained. If the car is oversteering, steer into the skid.

I think this has already been agreed

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

If you lose all control (ie car spinning), slam the brakes on and do not let them off until you have stopped. Spinning out of control, and then regaining traction, can result in the car shooting off in the wrong direction. Locking the wheels will ensure the car skids in a straight line.

This bit confuses me, how does "slamming the brakes on" help? If the car is spinning then all traction & grip is lost & the most likely outcome is the car stopping when it hits something! Applying the brakes won't make a jot of difference.

If it's spinning how does "locking the wheels" ensure it stops in a straight line?

I need to come & learn your driving techniques :cool:

Chocolate80

Driving test should also include motorway driving!

patman99

I reckon by the time the snow finally goes, most of us will be quite adept at skid-control. I do agree that controlling a skid should be part of the driving test, as should motorway & night driving.

vaio

rictus123 wrote: »

Winter tyres worth it?

neilmcl wrote: »

Not in this country, unless you live in remote areas.

Absolutely, put them on in November and off in March(ish), they grip way better in the cold (think the change over is 7 degrees) and are orders of magnitude better in the snow.

They are probably the reason the snowy parts of Europe carry on much as normal with two foot of snow everywhere whereas the UK grinds to a halt with 2 inches