Skid Control Made Easy

One of the most feared things to happen to a driver, other than a collision is losing control of their vehicle during a skid. That alone may cause a collision with another vehicle or a solid object such as a building or a light post. Knowing how to regain control of your vehicle when it is skidding is an important part of becoming a good driver. Do you know what it would take to control a skid; or better yet, avoid getting into one?

If you’re not careful, you may find yourself getting into a skid at any time of the year. Any time there are loose items on the road surface, you’re risking a skid. This would include leaves; wet or dry. Other substances would include gravel, rain, snow, and ice. These will all reduce the friction between your tires and the road surface. Once you reduce friction with your tires and the road surface, you reduce the traction.

Change of Speed or Direction

Skids are often caused by a change, a change of speed or direction. If you combine those with any of the loose surfaces, you have a higher chance of losing control of your vehicle. You can predict when your vehicle could skid or slide if you’re paying attention to the driving environment. You should notice the changing road conditions and should be able to adjust to them.

Turning the Corner

If you turn the corner too quickly, your vehicle may begin to understeer. This happens when the wheels are turned to the right or left but the vehicle will continue to move straight ahead. This action is often caused by having too much speed going into a corner or jerky steering while attempting to go around the corner while happening on a slippery or loose road surface. Once this happens, ease off the accelerator and look straight ahead where you want the vehicle to go. You may want to consider abandoning the turn if the loss of control happened early in the turn and go around the block instead. Turning the steering wheel more to make it around the corner will cause a spin once the wheels have regained their grip on the road. This oversteering may cause your vehicle to leave the roadway.

Control an Oversteer

You may also find yourself in a rear-wheel skid which is often referred to as oversteer. Oversteer is caused when the vehicle has too much speed going into a corner, rough steering, or harsh braking before a turn or a curve. When you attempt any of those on a slippery road surface, it can be very likely to cause your vehicle to skid, causing you to lose control of your vehicle.

There are two ways to control an oversteer. Much of it will depend on the type of vehicle you’re driving. If you’re driving a rear-wheel drive vehicle, like a full-size sedan, look straight ahead, come off both the brake and accelerator pedals, and shift to neutral if you’re able to. The rear drive wheel of the vehicle may be moving at a quicker rate of speed than the other 3 wheels of your vehicle, causing the “fishtail” effect. Having the ability to shift into neutral will allow the drive wheel to move at the same rate of speed as the other three wheels so the “fishtail” can stop.

Once the skid first happens, look straight ahead and not around the corner. Trying to steer around the corner while in a rear-wheel skid may cause your vehicle to continue spinning. This could cause a crash with any oncoming vehicles as the skid would most likely put your vehicle in the oncoming lane.

If you’re driving a front-wheel drive vehicle, such as most vehicles on the market, and find yourself in a rear-wheel skid, providing a slight tap on the accelerator will help to pull your vehicle out of the skid. Think of it as a pull toy when you were very young. If you pulled the string, the toy would follow. The string was attached to the front of the toy, which is somewhat like the front wheels of your vehicle pulling the vehicle through the skid into a straight line.

Electronic Stability Control

One of the modern technologies that Canadian vehicles have had for over ten years now is Electronic Stability Control or ESC. To some, you may know it as an Electronic Stability Program (ESP) or Dynamic Stability Control (DSC).

Despite what you may call it, it has the ability that help you keep your vehicle under control during a potential loss of control. Essentially, ESC will detect if the vehicle is losing traction or steering control during a sudden swerve or when driving on a slippery or loose road surface. The ESC will automatically apply braking to individual brakes which will help bring the vehicle safely back in line without the risk of the vehicle skidding out of control. ESC will only be activated when it detects a possible loss of steering control This is typically when the vehicle is not responding to where the driver is steering.

When ESC has been activated, braking will automatically be applied to individual wheels. When ESC has been applied, it will make a rumbling noise as if something is broken with your vehicle. Don’t worry though as everything is working as it should. The outer front wheel has braking applied to counter an oversteer and braking will automatically be applied to the inner rear wheel to counter understeer.

Since ESC can apply the brakes to individual wheels, ESC can recover vehicle control from potential skids that a driver simply can’t. Some of the ESC systems may reduce engine power until control is regained. ESC does not improve a vehicle’s cornering ability, so you will still need to slow down and adjust to the driving conditions.

ESC can be quite effective, but it depends on the amount of traction between the road and the vehicle. If the vehicle has tires without sufficient tread on it, under-inflated tires, or tires that are not designed for the climate, ESC will be less effective compared to a vehicle that has the proper tires for the road conditions.

Regardless of the type of skid you find yourself getting into, respond immediately and never give up. However, the best way to control a skid is not to get into one. Think of ways to avoid skids altogether such as reduced speed while driving on slippery or loose surfaces and using winter tires on your vehicle during the winter season.