Getting Control of Your Car in a Skid

It is becoming more and more obvious to me that very few drivers on the road these days have a clue about how to control a skid. I don’t know if it’s because driving schools don’t teach it or because most drivers nowadays are learning from a friend or parent who never learned it either or for some reason skip that lesson.

Skid control is not something you can learn on the spur of the moment when the need arises. You either know it ahead of time or you reap the consequences. Quite often fatal.


When I taught my wife and three sons to drive, quite a few years ago, I took them out on empty, snow or ice covered mall parking lots to practice. I would make them put the car into a skid on purpose and practice regaining control where there was no risk of hitting anything. You can know the theory perfectly, but without actually practicing it you’re only half ready for a real life situation.

The first thng you need to know is whether you’re driving a rear wheel or front wheel drive vehicle. Skid control methods are almost completely opposite for the two and many drivers of rear wheel drives don’t realize when they change to a front wheel drive that they have to relearn everything they know and even change their instincts. Hence the need for practice.

Almost all skids involve loss of traction by the drive tires. Thus, on rear wheel drives its the backend of the car that slides either left or right. On front wheel drives it’s the front end of the car that has a mind of its own.

The cause of the skid is usually a difference in the speed of the vehicle and the rotational speed of the tires.

The last thing you want to do in the event of a skid is apply the brakes. This tends to lock up all four wheels and you’re now in a four wheel skid intead of only two. Vehicles with ABS brakes are only slightly better if you’re already in skid mode. All four wheel brakes will still be applied long enough to make a skid worse.

Here are the simple rules for skid control:

Rear wheel drive

Take your foot off of the accelerator and steer in the direction of the skid. Eg. If the rear of the vehicle is sliding to the right, turn the steering wheel to the right.
As the vehicle straightens out, apply slight acceleration to match tire speed to vehicle speed.

Front wheel drive

Steer in the opposite direction of the skid and press down on the accelerator. Eg. If the front of the vehicle is skidding right turn the steering wheel to the left.
Do not under any circumstances take your foot off the accelerator. This has the same effect as slamming the brakes on the drive wheels only, and will serve to increase the skid.

You will be least likely to go into a skid if the rotational speed of your tires matches the speed of your car.

I know it seems counter-intuitive to accelerate during a skid, but that’s the main reason so many thousands of cars go off the road every year.

There are only two main causes of all accidents except those caused by mother nature, ie. floods, earthquakes, etc. Those two causes? Inexperience and inattention.

Be safe out there.