How to prevent skidding?

logicalgal

When driving during winter or extreme weather conditions, increase your following distance in order to have better reaction time and to stay well back from "the pack" of cars ahead. Also reduce your speed in order to have better control and stopping capability.
When steering, as in lane changing for example, steer minimally in order to maintain total control of your steering. Many drivers begin to "steer" while still looking over their shoulder. By simply looking ahead up your intended path when steering, you will steer less. If there is snow, slush, or a lot of water on the road, especially on higher speed roads, oversteering may cause loss of control.
Prevention is the answer to this problem........
On occasion, I have felt some slippage under my wheels. When this happens (under overpasses or in the shade during winter for example), I simply come off the gas and keep the steering as straight as possible, looking up my intended path of travel.
Anticipating the weather and road conditions and "thinking and driving" will also help you develop better driving skills.
One more important tip........never use "Cruise Control" during the winter. The roads may appear to be dry, but there might be ice under an overpass or in a shady area.
In urban areas, brake to slow to a managable speed BEFORE the curve or intersection, and if there are no stop or yield or other signs or red lights, then coast around the corner, then straighten out your steering looking well ahead up your intended path of travel and then gently accelerate.........doing this will prevent you from skidding also......I do this year round so its a good habit. Develop safe habits.....

evertalall

Drive slow and if need arises apply brakes gently

Vince M

To prevent a skid, the answer is to, simply, drive slower. If road conditions promote skidding, like wet or icy surface, then one must drive even slower.

Best, most basic answer about recovering from a skid. Forget about the "turn into" or turn away" from a skid. Steer the car in the direction you want to go. By using a strategy like turning away from a skid, you risk over correcting, which can cause a skid in the other direction. If you point the wheels in the direction you want to go, if the car is going to correct the skid, then it will do so in the direction you are pointing. If the speed is too fast to correct the skid, then no strategy is going to work.

Another hint, if you find yourseld skidding towards an object you DO NOT want to hit, then DO NOT look at it. Your hands will tend to steer in the direction you are looking, so, look in the direction you want to go.

bkg

When your car starts to slide, take your foot off the accelerator, do not touch the brakes, and turn the steering wheel in the direction of the slide. Once you regain control over the vehicle, you can apply the brakes. Applying the brakes during a skid will cause the wheels to lock up and you will lose control (of course anti-lock brakes will prevent this also).

You can prevent a skid by maintaining a safe speed for the current road conditions.

UCANTCME

Techniques for controlling your car in a skid vary slightly depending on the type and cause of the skid, road conditions, and what caused the skid in the first place.

No matter what the cause, it is imperative that you do not panic. You must maintain your composure to minimize your chances of making a bad situation even worse. Doing so will allow you to think quickly, then react appropriately to do what is needed in order to prevent or minimize an accident.

If you suddenly feel your car's rear end drifting out to one side or the other (called fish-tailing), you will need to steer the car in the same direction that the rear end is fish-tailing.

By performing this correction directly proportional to the amount the rear end of the car is fish tailing, you will prevent the car from getting completely sideways or spinning out of control.

The correction will force the rear end back where it belongs and keep the car heading straight. If the rear end of your car begins to drift or fish-tail toward the left, then steer into it by also steering left just enough to keep yourself straight.

If the rear end of your car begins to drift to the right, then steer to the right just enough to get the car heading in a straight line again. The sooner you begin this corrective action after you begin to feel the rear end going off in one direction or the other, the less correction will be needed, minimizing the odds that you will over-correct and cause the rear end to fish-tail or drift in the opposite direction.

If you do over-correct, then you will need to continue taking corrective action by steering in the same direction that the rear end of the car is trying to go in

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