Control a Skidding Car
In defensive driving courses, the top drill, is usually about skid control. However, many of the methods are not all that practical on the road, because they are hard to perform accurately, or because they are inefficient. Here is the best method of dealing with a skid.
Steps
- Sometimes, plowing into a corner in high speed (considering the surface and state of the tires), or worst, under acceleration, will cause the car to turn at a wider angle than anticipated. This is caused by the front tires sliding, and is hence called "understeer". In this situation, pedal-work precedes steering:
- Ease off of the pedals: It might be the gas, or a heavily threaded brake pedal. In both cases, and most under-steer scenarios, this by itself will be enough
- Steer where you want to go: release a bit of steering, and than tighten up the steering just a bit sharper into the corner. Don't panic and sharply turn the wheel excessively into the corner, as this will only make the car lose more grip. "Steering into the skid" might work, but it's hard and has to be done precisely to be efficient.
- Apply "Trail braking": Quickly move the foot from the accelerator to the brakes and gently apply a bit of brake pressure. If necessary, squeeze the pedal a bit more through the process.
- In other cases, the car might seem to turn "too much" and too quickly into the corner. This means that the car's back-end is skidding and the front is therefore turning too much, thus "over steering". The best solution for most road drivers consists of immediately threading the brakes as hard as possible as quickly as possible, while taking off a bit of steering. This will either pull the car back straight or slow it down quickly enough to enable a later recovery or to stop it while it's still in the direction of intended travel.
Tips
- In an over-steer situation, there are many techniques of recovery, depending on the exact situation (see sources). Therefore, troubling a road driver with a vast range of solutions for different cases is going to be simplistic and will only make matters worst, as will be should one announce a single method of overcoming over-steer. Therefore, it is beneficial to simply brake and stop.
- While looking and steering where you want to go is crucial, in skid control sensing the skid before seeing it is even more important. The same applies for the solution, you will feel the car re-gripping before it goes back into it's lane.
- Under-steer, to begin with, is felt through the steering wheel, which becomes lighter and less resistant or responsive.
- Oversteer is felt through to back of the seat, and it is therefore imperative that the driver will be seated with his bottom squeezed tight into the seat. Use the left foot over the footrest to brace yourself coming into corners so you are more aware of this sensation. When a skid is detected, immediately and quickly react, don't hesitate or wait.
Warnings
- Any sort of pumping, on either brake pedal or gas, is not recommended.
- For front wheel drive vehicles. Releasing the gas pedal causes engine breaking on the front wheels causing the skid to progress. When you steer into a skid, light acceleration will pull the front wheels in the direction you want to go.
- As said, don't "steer into the skid and accelerate".
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