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How to Prevent Car Skidding?


With the arrival of monsoon season, the number of car accidents adversely increases in the Indian road. Skidding is one of the major reasons of the mishap. A car skids when it looses the grip from the wheels. Some of the main causes of skidding are excessive change of brake resulting in wheel lock up, heavy acceleration, sudden change in direction, speed driving on wet or unsealed roads. There are different types of Skid that occurs due to above reasons.

Four-wheel skid: In this type of skid, all four wheels lock up and the vehicle is swayed away along the direction of the momentum. Both the front and the rear wheel skids if not controlled in the early stage can result in four wheel skid. To achieve stability, lower the clutch and pump the brake at regular interval. This action will lock and unlock the brake simultaneously, while the brake unlock the motion of steering wheel will stabilize the car.

Front-wheel skid (under steer): In this case, the car goes in a straight line instead of moving in the direction of the front wheels. Do not apply brake for this type of skid. Follow the steps below to control the car.

  • Push in the clutch (if driving a manual car).
  • Remove the foot off the accelerator.
  • Turn the steering wheel in the direction that the car is moving.
  • After regaining the control, let the clutch out.

Rear-wheel skid (over steer): In this type of skid, the rear of the car tilts out of the line. Again, do not apply brake in this situation. Repeat the steps given above for front-wheel skid control. These actions should be instantaneous to control the momentum in the rear end of the car in order to maintain the overall balance.

What to do when the car skids?
  • The first thing to do is to make out which type of skid has taken place and then act accordingly.
  • Do not panic and try to be calm when the car starts skidding. Do not hit the break hard, handle the brake smoothly and take off the foot from the accelerator. Now steer the car in the required direction.
  • Never jerk the wheel. Do it gently and guide the wheels so that they would move in the desired direction.
  • Take additional precaution when the road is wet. Avoid sudden brake or acceleration to stop the car.
  • Avoid shifting the gears and drive the car carefully and cautiously until it is under control. For Example if the car is moving with 4th gear, do not change it to the 2nd gear.
  • Some cars have features like Anti-Lock Brakes System (ABS). ABS is an electronic control design intended to help the driver when experiencing a “braking” skid. This feature helps the driver to regain control over a skidding car. So if the car has ABS, then never brake hard, try to hold them in smoother movement and the computerized system will do the rest of the work.
  • Cars with the Acceleration Slip Regulation System (ASR) control can manage the car when skidding on slippery roads. This system sets to work when it spots that they have lost traction or rear wheels are spinning.
When a car skid, hard brake apply is the common mistake that a drive makes which often result in accident and sometimes even proves fatal. Follow the above correct way to handle a skid and enjoy driving in wet season.