Handling a Skid

"Turn in the direction of the skid," said your Driver's Ed teacher. It was bad advice. Unless, that is, he took you to a track or a snowy parking lot and allowed you to develop skill in catching a slide.

Turn Key
Most drivers will be better off if they do not "Turn in the direction of the skid." That's okay, almost nobody knows what "Turn in the direction of the skid" means. And if your rear tires lose traction, you have no time to decipher the complex, unspoken nuances associated with "Turn in the direction of the skid". Did your Driver's Ed teacher mention that at some point you must steer back the other way or you'll go flying off into the trees or opposing traffic? I didn't think so.

Most drivers will be better off if they do not "Turn in the direction of the skid."
As a high-performance driving instructor, I've ridden with hundreds of drivers as they tried to catch a sliding car (and, on their first attempt, almost universally failed). I assert that it's a huge disservice to tell drivers to "Turn in the direction of the skid" and then not allow them the track time necessary to develop car control skills. At best it's a waste of words. At worst it can turn a bad situation into a tragedy.

Logic Follows
The reason: No amount of verbiage can teach you how to catch a sliding car, any more than the same can teach you how to make a perfect 60-foot fly-fishing cast. For the latter, you must spend hours with flyrod in hand. For the former you must spend time sliding sideways. Practice is the only way you can learn either of these skills.


Drivers fall into two groups. The first group is those who can get enough practice to develop the ability to catch a sliding tail. The second group is those who can't get the necessary practice time. The second group includes virtually all Americans.