Explanation: Skidding is usually caused by driver error. You should always adjust your driving to take account of the road and weather conditions.

Gently steer in the direction you want to go- don’t oversteer or jerk the wheel too quickly. Now you can be confident and ready to react if you begin to skid. Make sure to check out the rest of our safe driving videos for more tips to keep you in control on the road!

Driver Ed: Chapter 13 – Natural Laws and Risk Management

Turn your front wheels in the same direction that the rear of the vehicle is sliding. You’ve also heard about “turning into the slide”. These both mean the same thing. For example, if the back of your car slides to the right, turn the wheel to the right.

To avoid a spin, while in a skid, you should: turn in the direction the rear of the vehicle is skidding without oversteering when skidding a motorist should look in the direction he/she wants to go, during a side skid, avoid using the brakes.

With a rear-wheel skid, you need to steer into it. For example, if you go round a corner and the car slides out to the right you need to carefully steer right towards the skid to counteract the effect. Don’t brake as this can make the situation worse.

Recovering from a Skid

1. Take your foot off of the accelerator.
2. Steer in the direction you want the front wheels to go.
3. If your rear wheels start sliding the other way as you recover, ease the steering wheel toward that side.
4. If you have standard brakes, pump them gently.
5. If you have anti-lock brakes (ABS), do not pump the brakes.

So what does it mean to turn into the skid? You turn into the direction your back wheels are sliding. “If the back end slides to the left, you should steer to the left to catch the slide,” says Carl Nadeau, a race-car driver and Michelin driving expert.

To do that, slowly and safely accelerate while steering in the direction of the skid – that is, if your car’s rear is sliding to the left, steer to the left; if your car’s rear is sliding to the right, steer to the right. This technique will stabilize the car and will help the rear wheels to regain traction.

The most effective way to get your vehicle back under control during a rear-wheel skid is as follows:

1. Take your foot off the brake if the rear wheels skid due to hard or panic braking.
2. Ease off the accelerator if the rear wheels lose traction due to hard acceleration.

What rules should you follow if you have to pull over because of extremely poor visibility? The best way to compensate for this problem is to slow down.

Switch your headlights on early if visibility is poor. Your car might have automatic headlights, but you can override this if you feel you need more visibility. Scan the road at least 12 seconds ahead. Dip your headlights for other traffic.

The answer is 3, when it first starts raining. When it first starts raining, the water breaks the baked-on particles apart and mix with the rainwater, turning it into a very slick coating on the road. This results in dangerous, slippery conditions.

Overdriving your headlights. You are overdriving your headlights when you go so fast that your stopping distance is farther than you can see with your headlights. This is a dangerous thing to do, because you may not give yourself enough room to make a safe stop.

Do use your dipped headlights if you’re driving at night. This isn’t only to help you see – it means other drivers can see YOU. Do use your dipped headlights in the daytime if visibility is reduced – like in fog, heavy rain or snow. Do use dipped headlights if you are overtaking.

Astigmatism can make your vision blurry and particularly affect your night vision. You may notice that lights look fuzzy, streaky, or surrounded by haloes at night, which can make driving difficult.

Low beam headlights should be used in fog, rain, and snow. The light from high beams will reflect back to the driver under these weather conditions, causing a glare that will make it difficult to see ahead.

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