Pennsylvania driving lesson · Parking and Emergencies
Emergency steering, braking and skids
A 3-minute lesson from the Pennsylvania course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
In an emergency, the wrong action or no action raises your chance of crashing; in a review of 12,000 crashes, 37 percent of drivers did nothing to avoid the crash. Know in advance how to steer around a hazard, how your brakes work, and how to stop a skid.
Know the rule
When you can either brake or steer to avoid a collision, it's usually better to steer, particularly above 25 mph, because you can swerve faster than you can brake.
Evasive steering: turn the wheel quickly at least one-half turn one way, then back almost a full circle the other way once you clear the object, then return to center. At higher speeds, less steering is needed.
Hold the wheel with both hands at 9 and 3 o'clock or 8 and 4 o'clock, thumbs along the face of the wheel. The 10 and 2 position is acceptable, but you risk injury if the air bag deploys.
If a crash can't be avoided, injury prevention depends mostly on a properly worn seat belt, adjusted head restraints, an air bag, and sitting at least 10 inches from the air bag.
If you skid on a wet or icy road, look and steer where you want to go: rear sliding left, steer left; rear sliding right, steer right. Expect a smaller second skid the other way and correct it the same way. Don't brake; it makes the skid worse.
On an icy curve the rear of your car slides to the right. Stay off the brake and steer right, in the direction the rear is skidding. If it then swings left, steer left, until you're back in control.
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.
What should you do if your vehicle starts to skid with the rear end sliding to the left?
Steer left, toward the skid
Steer to the right, away from the skid
Brake firmly to regain control
Accelerate to straighten the vehicle
Answer: Steer left, toward the skid
Steer in the direction the rear of the vehicle is skidding — left skid, steer left.