Do's & Dont's
The very first action you should take with your feet when your car begins to skid.
What is releasing the accelerator and not hitting the brakes?
The most common cause of serious vehicle skids, often related to driver error.
What is speeding?
You should avoid using this pedal entirely during most skids because it can lock up the wheels and worsen the slide.
What is the brake pedal?
Skidding occurs when the tires lose this vital force that keeps the car connected to the road.
What is traction (or grip/friction)?
A wet "skid pan" or a car with a special skid frame are common tools used in one of these specialized driving courses.
What are skid control courses (or defensive driving courses)?
If the rear of your car is swinging to the left, this is the direction you should gently turn your steering wheel.
What is to the left?
This weather condition makes the road most slippery immediately after it begins.
What is rain?
Once traction returns after steering into the skid, you must do this to stop the car from swinging the other way.
What is steering back in the opposite direction (counter-steering/overcorrecting)?
A locked tire that is sliding, not rolling, across the pavement creates one of these useful marks for accident reconstruction specialists.
What is a skid mark?
This many seconds is often the recommended safe following distance rule in ideal conditions in places like New Hampshire.
What is four seconds?
This is a crucial visual technique for steering out of a skid; you should look here, not at the guardrail or tree.
What is the direction you want the car to go?
Rapidly pressing the gas pedal, going way past the speed limit is called this.
What is speeding?
This component, standard on many modern cars, automatically intervenes to help prevent and manage skids.
What are anti-lock brakes (ABS) or electronic stability control (ESC)?
The type of friction present when the tires are rolling and gripping the road (versus sliding).
What is static friction?
This law states you have given consent to be tested for blood alcohol concentration if you are arrested for suspicion of DUI/DWI.
What is the implied consent law?
This type of skid involves the rear wheels losing traction, causing the back of the car to swing out, often in rear-wheel-drive vehicles.
What is oversteer?
Skidding due to a layer of water between your tires and the road surface is known as this phenomenon.
What is hydroplaning?
If you are in a front-wheel-drive car and the rear starts to skid, you should gently do this with the accelerator instead of braking.
What is gently accelerate?
Accident investigators use this specific type of friction coefficient, along with skid mark length, to calculate a vehicle's initial speed.
What is the coefficient of kinetic friction?
Using the "SEE" system while driving involves searching, evaluating, and executing, which helps prevent situations leading to skids.
What is the SEE system (Search, Evaluate, Execute)?
This is the specific action required to regain steering control during an under steer skid, which feels counter-intuitive.
What is straightening the wheels slightly to allow the front tires to grip again?
A simple vehicle maintenance check that can help prevent skids by ensuring maximum contact with the road.
What is checking tire tread depth or pressure?
This term describes the unwanted back-and-forth swinging motion of the car's rear end during an overcorrected skid.
What is fishtailing?
According to Newton's Second Law, the car will follow the direction of this force, which you regain by restoring tire grip.
What is net force (or traction)?
While we can't play it here, this app allows you to play the actual Jeopardy game hands-free in your car.
What is the Drivetime mobile app?