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RightGalaxy
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02 Jul 2014, 6:22 pm

Please help :)
I have to survey a few people about:
What to do when your car is skidding?
Do you brake?
I'll also need to know your gender, age, how many years you've been driving, type of car you drive, and what types of brakes and steering you have.
Could you help please?



cathylynn
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02 Jul 2014, 6:26 pm

female, 58, driven for 42 yrs., honda civic, anti-lock brakes, power steering. i would brake hard and steer gently away from the skid. if i didn't have anti-lock brakes, i would pump the brakes.



cathylynn
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02 Jul 2014, 9:18 pm

my husband - male, 63, driven for 47 years, jeep liberty, unsure brake type, power steering. would steer in the direction the back of the car was sliding. would not brake.



izzeme
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03 Jul 2014, 8:22 am

male, 27, anti-lock brakes front wheel drive.

i'd steer against the skid and tap the acellerator, to pull myself out of it.
with reer-wheel drive, i'd brake with antilock, and pump brakes without antilock



zer0netgain
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03 Jul 2014, 9:07 am

Male, 45, 30 years, Prius/Pickup/Motorcycle, 4 wheel disc/front disc & rear drum/front and rear disc (but rarely use the rear brake manually due to linked braking system), power steering on car and truck
Also trained in Tactical Pursuit Driving as when I went for training as a law enforcement officer back in the 1990s.

The answer is both complex and simple.

The simple answer....always steer into the direction you are skidding.

The complex answer....

You want to regain control of your vehicle. You have rubber about the equivalent of four human palms maintaining control of your vehicle via contact with the road. Steering in the direction of a skid/slide is your best chance of regaining traction. Once you regain traction, you can then steer in the direction you want to go.

Most loss of control issues are a matter of degree. Don't yank the steering wheel by large degrees. Odds are you simply over-steered a little bit and only need to ease back. It's the same as spinning tires on acceleration....ease off the gas a little. It's the same as skidding because you hit the brake too hard...ease off a little at a time, not completely. If you are sliding while braking, easing off on the brake AND slightly correcting your steering will be your best option for regaining control.

To steer in the direction you want to go while skidding/sliding only ensures you won't regain control because the tire is rotating in an angle utterly opposed to what's going on, and should it regain traction, it will jerk the vehicle into another skid/slide situation (a.k.a., fishtailing). If you don't recover a fishtail within 2-3 swings, you likely will "spin out" into a 360 degree turn with no control until you slide to a stop.

I was tapped by a tractor-trailer at highway speeds. I went into a 360 and into the grassy median. I was towing a U-Haul and coming out into oncoming traffic. Just as I was about to get back onto the highway going into oncoming traffic, I felt the front wheels of my pickup regain traction and I gently steered back into the median (all of this on soil/grass, not pavement). I didn't have to completely recover from the spin out...I just needed enough control to be able to direct my path. In the whole incident, I did not attempt to steer. I was going straight when I got hit, I was pointed "straight" while doing the 360, and I was pointed "straight" when I regained traction. Had I tried to "fight" what was happening via the steering wheel (with a loaded U-Haul and tractor trailer overpowering my direction of choice), I probably wouldn't have regained control when I did because who knows what angle my front wheels would have been when I regained enough traction to steer.