Over the years, I’ve received a lot of confusing advice from friends and family about what to do if my car loses control on an icy road. I’ve been told things like “turn into the skid” and that I have to react differently depending on whether my car has front- or rear-wheel drive. All this advice has made me a nervous winter driver. Are there simple rules for what to do? – Joanna, Ottawa
If you’re confused by advice like “turn into the skid,” you’re not alone.
“I don’t know what that means either,” said Ian Law, a former racecar driver and chief instructor at ILR Car Control School, which teaches winter driving courses in Minden, Ont.
“Just smoothly come off the gas and slow down. [The skid] will correct itself, but it’s important that the driver does not turn the wheel and overcorrect.”
Cars typically lose control because you’re making sudden, jerky movements – hitting the brakes too hard, turning too abruptly or accelerating too fast – that demand more grip than your tires have.
When that happens, some drivers panic and steer too far in the wrong direction.
“Usually when drivers are in that situation, the front end is sliding and they’re heading toward a ditch or something,” he said. “They’ll start looking at the ditch – and then their hands will take them there.”
Instead, you should always be looking at where you want to go – and steer smoothly just enough to get you there, said Carl Nadeau, a driving expert with Michelin and a former racecar driver.
“If you look at that truck [you’re trying to avoid] and you focus on it, unfortunately, you might drive your car into it,” Nadeau said.
And gently letting off the gas lets your tires regain traction, said Dennis Porter, a senior driving instructor with the Alberta Motor Association (AMA).
“Don’t overthink it,” Porter said.
Braking point?
So, should you ever hit the brakes once you start to skid?
“When it’s inevitable that you’re not going to correct that skid and you are going to collide with something, then you get on the brakes so you can lessen the amount of damage done,” Law said.
Most cars on the road have anti-lock braking (ABS) – it’s been around for decades, and has been required on all new cars sold in Canada since 2012.
Before ABS, drivers were often told to pump the brakes in a winter skid – quickly switch between braking and letting off the brakes so the tires would have a chance to regain grip. But ABS does that for you – and more smoothly than most drivers can.
But if you’re not used to ABS, it can be startling when it kicks in.
“A lot of drivers take their foot off the brake thinking they’re doing something wrong with all that noise going on,” Law said. “In an emergency with ABS, your goal is to push the pedal through the floor.”
And when you’re losing control, does it matter whether you have front- or rear-wheel drive – or whether the front or back is sliding? Not as much as it used to, Law said.
“Every vehicle is designed now so that when the driver exceeds the grip of the tires, it’s always the front end that slides first,” Law said.
That’s mainly thanks to electronic stability control (ESC), which has also been mandatory on new cars since 2012.
When you’re about to lose control, ESC can adjust engine and braking power to keep you on track.
With ESC on, a lot of older advice you may have heard – such as stepping on the gas a little in a front-wheel-drive car if the rear end starts to slide – might not work to get you out of a skid.
“Even if you accelerate, [ESC] is not going to give you the power to the front wheels,” Nadeau said, adding that in the moment, many drivers can’t tell which end is sliding.
Better to prevent?
But even with ABS and ESC, cars can lose control – and plenty of drivers don’t have the skills or experience to regain it, Law said.
“The average driver has no idea how their vehicle will react on ice and snow,” he said. “It’s far, far easier to prevent a skid than to correct one.“
Most winter skids can be prevented by paying attention to road conditions and then steering, accelerating and braking gently, he said.
“If you’re smooth with your controls, you won’t get in a skid,” he said, adding that you should also slow down and keep extra distance from the car in front of you. “The old myth that you shouldn’t ever touch your brakes on ice and snow is all misinformation. You can brake – just be smooth and look where you want to go.”
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