What to do if my car goes into a skid?

roswell

feet off peddles to the right, slowly dip the clutch to bighting point / just below.

Basicaly you want the wheels to have traction to do that the wheels need to match the relivant speed to allow grip your basicaly using the engine backwards, let the wheels decide the speed and use the clutch to add / remove momentum.

The above is a lot easier in a older diesel car.

Pete*G_4

patman99 wrote: »

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.

You can do all those, and more - it is called PASS PLUS. I did it when I learnt to drive, well worth the £70 cost as it saved me £400 on my first year's insurance as well. Check out the link below.

http://www.yourdrivinglicence.co.uk/pass-plus-scheme.html

BBC's got an interesting winter driving article as well, worth looking at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8443690.stm

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Paradigm wrote: »

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:

Because when a vehicle is spinning, and is out of control, at some point in that spin it will regain traction. When it does, if the brakes aren't applied, it'll start moving in whatever direction it feels like.

If you lock the wheels in a spin, it will stop spinning, and it will slide in a straight line until it stops.

Have you ever seen a video of a car fishtailing wildly, out of control? The big collision tends to happen when it regains traction, and heads at speed into the nearest solid object, something you have absolutely no control over. At least with the wheels locked you have several seconds in which to see where it's going to end up, and can plan accordingly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deRVwthMHzU

That video is in the snow, but even so you can see what happens. The driver loses the back end, the car starts to spin. It regains traction and drives straight off the road. Had the driver locked all four wheels, it would have stopped on the carriageway, and he could have continued on his journey.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

mikey72 wrote: »

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?)

You clearly don't know what you're talking about.

mikey72

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Because when a vehicle is spinning, and is out of control, at some point in that spin it will regain traction. When it does, if the brakes aren't applied, it'll start moving in whatever direction it feels like.

If you lock the wheels in a spin, it will stop spinning, and it will slide in a straight line until it stops.

Have you ever seen a video of a car fishtailing wildly, out of control? The big collision tends to happen when it regains traction, and heads at speed into the nearest solid object, something you have absolutely no control over. At least with the wheels locked you have several seconds in which to see where it's going to end up, and can plan accordingly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deRVwthMHzU

That video is in the snow, but even so you can see what happens. The driver loses the back end, the car starts to spin. It regains traction and drives straight off the road. Had the driver locked all four wheels, it would have stopped on the carriageway, and he could have continued on his journey.

Maybe it's a different link for me, but the first driver spins off, when he tries to overtake, and eventually stops facing backwards, the second driver skids everytime the brake lights come on, and regains control every time he lifts on the brakes.
So how does the first one prove spinning is good, and the second one definately shows lifting off is better.
I think we'll each continue to do our own thing, you can spin wildly, I'll try to stop where I want to.

mikey72

mikey72 wrote: »

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?)

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

You clearly don't know what you're talking about.

That's more worrying, how do you think the steering works?

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

mikey72 wrote: »

Maybe it's a different link for me, but the first driver spins off, when he tries to overtake, and eventually stops facing backwards, the second driver skids everytime the brake lights come on, and regains control every time he lifts on the brakes.
So how does the first one prove spinning is good, and the second one definately shows lifting off is better.
I think we'll each continue to do our own thing, you can spin wildly, I'll try to stop where I want to.

Watch it again. The instant the car regains traction, the wheels are pointing to the left, the car turns and heads off the carriageway.

If the driver had locked all four wheels, it would have stopped spinning, slid in a straight line, and stopped on the carriageway.

The second vehicle isn't spinning, is it? So what the !!!! are you prattling on about?

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

mikey72 wrote: »

That's more worrying, how do you think the steering works?

I don't need your sanctimonious claptrap thanks.

mikey72

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Watch it again. The instant the car regains traction, the wheels are pointing to the left, the car turns and heads off the carriageway.

If the driver had locked all four wheels, it would have stopped spinning, slid in a straight line, and stopped on the carriageway.

The second vehicle isn't spinning, is it? So what the !!!! are you prattling on about?

Must be a different link then. The I one I saw spins off, hits the snow, and slides down a ditch.
Anyway you slide, I'll drive.

westy23

Afternoon all
Are we talking about skidding when braking or cornering?
To prevent a cornering skid in this weather, EVERTHING must be done SLOW AND SMOOTH, apply SLOW and SMOOTH to all steering, braking and acceleration controls and keep your speed down.
when we talk about skidding when braking if your car has ABS there is no need for cadence braking as that is what ABS does about umpteen times a second and when abs is working you can STILL STEER as the wheels are not locked or skidding.
but braking distances are vastly increased in this weather even with abs so keep well back from any cars you are behind.