A 3-minute lesson from the Vermont course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Most skids happen because the driver didn't adjust speed to the road and traffic in time. Snow, ice, rain, dirt, gravel and wet leaves all reduce traction. Preventing a skid is easier than recovering from one, and the recovery is the same for every vehicle.
Know the rule
Most skids are caused by failing to adjust speed to conditions such as snow, ice, rain, dirt/gravel and wet leaves. Don't use cruise control in these conditions.
In a rear-wheel drive vehicle you can usually feel a skid starting. A front-wheel drive may give no warning. It handles better in snow, but its traction isn't flawless, so don't let that confidence make you drive faster.
On a curve covered in wet leaves, your rear end slides to the right. Stay off the brake and look and steer toward where you want to go, down your lane. Be ready to correct left and right a few times 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 begins to skid, what should you do first?
Hit the brakes hard immediately
Pump the brakes quickly
Turn the wheel opposite the skid direction
Steer where you want the vehicle to go
Answer: Steer where you want the vehicle to go
Don't hit the brakes in a skid; steer in the direction you want the vehicle to go.
