What to do in a Skid?

fryup

*Roads are lethal tonight folks esp in the mid-west

Anyway i was just checking various websites about the correct procedure when you skid on ice.

The main thing i want to know is this...in a car if you have ABS brakes do you or do you not...brake hard.. when you go into a skid??

Lex Luthor

fryup wrote: »

*Roads are lethal tonight folks esp in the mid-west

Anyway i was just checking various websites about the correct procedure when you skid on ice.

The main thing i want to know is this...in a car if you have ABS brakes do you or do you not...brake hard.. when you go into a skid??

I usually try to drive out of it, that way you have a bit more control over the wheels

star-pants

ooh, quick question, if you're on a hill and you skid/car cuts out - braking makes this worse does it?

peasant

On treacherous roads any hard maneuvres should be avoided if at all possible. No hard braking, no sudden acceleration, no hard steering input.

At the first sign of things getting wobbly it usually helps to press the clutch, let go gas and brakes and through gentle steering try and get control back again. Avoid braking if possible and try gentle decelaration instead.

However, if it's already too late and you have to brake, then in a ABS car you might as well push the pedal through the floor and let the electronics do the thinking while you concentrate on possibly gently steering yourself out of harms way.

EDIT
What lightning said ..but gently also is the buzzword for power application

star-pants

Cheers!
Twas just the other day I was going down a hill very very slowly, gently pressed the brakes as I was going over a ramp, skidded, car cut out and there I was continuing down the hill whilst restarting the car.
Also my driveway is 45 degree angle (high point my house, low point the road), driveway had seemed ok as my dad had driven out a while earlier, I went to drive out, slowly letting off the brakes to crawl out (as there would be traffic/people) car just slid all the way out and to the kerb across the road, luckily noone coming. (driveway is well gritted now!). But judt I wasn't sure if hitting the brakes made things worse - now I know!

Stark

Bail out.

star-pants

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Well nobody was hurt so its all good! All you can do is, release the brakes let the front wheels start turning again and see if you can steer away from anything solid!

Groovy - thank you!
Just instinct gets you to hit the breaks.

NLane

im sure a lot of people have seen this before but....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUgcFiLA0_o

P.C.

NLane wrote: »

im sure a lot of people have seen this before but....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUgcFiLA0_o

I can't understand why the first car in that clip keeps accelerating. :eek:

It is not going to help - in that situation you want the car to stop as soon as poosible, and then just leave it there and walk.

Senna

P.C. wrote: »

I can't understand why the first car in that clip keeps accelerating. :eek:

I'm guessing just a moron, but his/her thinking might have been to avoid the straight ahead road as it may have lead to a steeper hill or possibly end at a junction onto a very busy road.....or just a moron.

Alanstrainor

Senna wrote: »

I'm guessing just a moron, but his/her thinking might have been to avoid the straight ahead road as it may have lead to a steeper hill or possibly end at a junction onto a very busy road.....or just a moron.

Yeah i was thinking the same, it's hard to know how things looked further down, perhaps it got a lot steeper. I suppose they just panicked,

jimmycrackcorm

Deploy ejector seat.

JimmyCrackCorn!

Dont Panic!

Read what the car is doing and why then correct it.

Understeer at slow speeds dab of handbrake depending on severity

Oversteer use weight transfer

Front wheels locked up and not responding. Undo turn breaking action and get the rolling and responding again.

So basically it depends

langdang

JimmyCrackCorn! wrote: »

Dont Panic!

Read what the car is doing and why then correct it.
...
So basically it depends

Jimmy is right here really. There's stock advice for different situations, but to be honest in an unexpected skid you won't be able to correct it unless
a)you have a lot of time (several seconds) to react and recall and apply the advice you've been given
or (better option)
b)you've previously practiced pulling your car back in line from a hairy situation

I would suggest finding a safe place to practice a bit in the ice*!
See how hard you in your own car can accelerate, turn, brake in a straight line, brake in a corner (answer - you can't, unless you've some super dooper electronic gadgets helping you).
Using the handbrake on ice in an emergency is only likely to make things worse at anything over 10kph on bad ice(let's just say I was trying a few things today), but it will give you a chance to practice "steering into a skid" so that the back end doesn't overtake you. (be prepared for the car to swing the opposite way once you've corrected the initial skid)

It's all about smooth, and undoing whatever caused the problem in the first place. (if it was just too much speed then you're probably looking at damage limitation rather than damage prevention)

*disclaimer - be sensible how and where you practice, even a deserted carpark is likely to have a kerb somewhere that could bend a wishbone or dent a sump or something if you over do it...
Start small and slow, and work up from that.
Get a more experienced driver to accompany you if you're not confident doing it..

thethedev

I have an all wheel drive car and I really dont know what to do with it.
What I have been doing is putting the clutch in and just keeping focused on where I want to go and I seem to be doing OK but Im not sure is this really the right thing to do???
Some people are saying apply a bit of power? Im confident enough but I always thought this was for those with serious car control skills/ or racing drivers?

Pdfile

AWD you use the power as a constant, or you will begin to under steer, if you play/blip the throttle it will act like a FWD, though if you have an active AWd/4wd set-up, asi found out in my mates new scooby yesterday your grand... just dont plant the right foot when you panic. Thats the Worst thing to do.

Bog Butter

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Dont touch the breakes if the car enters a skid! Dont even look at them, counter-steer and get the car back into shape. If you have a FWD or a AWD car apply power to help straighten the car.

Are you saying you should counter-steer? I thought the advice was to steer in the direction of the skid.

fryup

how about reducing tyre pressure?? does that help grip??

coronaextra

Hope for the best and ask yourself "why was I traveling so fast in the first place?"

Canis Lupus

If you live in a rural area go find a nice wide piece of road (preferably at night) and go act the idiot in 2nd gear, play with the handbrake and your brakes and get in some practice. It's also fun

dopes

There was a guy on sky news yesterday who said the best thing to do is keep in a low gear and if you get into a skid to turn the car in the direction of the skid and to pump the breaks not slam them...

fryup

Canis Lupus wrote: »

If you live in a rural area go find a nice wide piece of road (preferably at night) and go act the idiot in 2nd gear, play with the handbrake and your brakes and get in some practice. It's also fun

can i use your car?

coronaextra

Canis Lupus wrote: »

If you live in a rural area go find a nice wide piece of road (preferably at night) and go act the idiot in 2nd gear, play with the handbrake and your brakes and get in some practice. It's also fun

Practice makes perfect:cool:

Elessar

Sure if you have ABS and are skidding, press the pedal firmly and the car will do the best at slowing itself while still giving you steering control.

I thought this was best practice with ABS?

vectra

fryup wrote: »

how about reducing tyre pressure?? does that help grip??

LOL
Jump out when you get a skid and leave the tyres down a bit and jump back in

Wile E. Coyote

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Deploy ejector seat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGZRIX4HKGE&feature=related