Idaho driving lesson · Weather & Special Conditions
Skids and emergency stops
A 3-minute lesson from the Idaho course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Emergencies arrive suddenly, and your instinct, like slamming the brakes in a skid, is often wrong. Knowing the right moves in advance lets you react in the fraction of a second you get.
Know the rule
Prevent skids: watch for slick roads, especially in winter, slow down before you must stop, and never brake so hard the wheels lock.
In most skids the rear wheels lose grip and slide left or right. Skids happen most on ice or packed snow, but also on wet pavement, and even dry pavement at high speed or in quick stops.
Your rear wheels slide to the left on an icy curve. Lift off the gas, stay off the brake, and steer left, the direction the rear is sliding, until the car straightens.
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
If your vehicle starts to skid, you should first:
accelerate to regain traction
hit the brakes firmly
ease off the gas and steer into the skid
turn the wheel opposite the skid direction
Answer: ease off the gas and steer into the skid
Ease off the gas and steer into the direction the rear is sliding.