by Gilson Penny

Created on: December 04, 2008

Thirty years of New England driving and ten years of teaching Driver's Education to teenagers has taught me a few things about both how to drive in bad weather, and how to talk a driver through bad weather. They aren't exactly the same thing, but they are close.

There's something instinctive about the feel of the road, the feel of the car, and manipulating yourself out of a skid. Some people feel it more quickly than others. It's easy to teach a person who has an instinctive feel of the road to drive. The real challenge is to teach the average person how to react in adverse skid situations.

First, it's important to recognize and acknowledge whether you, personally, as the driver, are an instinctual driver or a competence driver. Quietly drop your ego while you read this, to decide which you really are. Do you feel the road and does the car follow your whims? Or do you feel like you're coaxing the car to submit? Do you think the car will do what you please, or do you feel like you hope it will?

Now, forget whichever you thought you were, because ice or snow on the road is not at all about you and your feel of the car. It is about Physics (which you may or may not have taken in school). I can hear all of the non-instinctual drivers cheering right about now. But don't cheer too soon.

Controlling your car in a skid starts before you are in a skid situation. If you really want to be in control in a skid, you'll have to commit yourself to a modest version of what a stunt driver trains to do for the movies. The most important aspect is knowing what your car will do under stress.

Go to an empty parking lot after hours (a school, municipal lot, or big mall lot), and in an area where no other cars or obstacles (such as light posts) are present, accelerate to 25 mph (40 kph) and hit your brakes. Do it again, and hit the brakes while turning slightly. Do it again, and hit the brakes while turning hard. Learn what your car will do in "normal" circumstances. Knowing how your car handles when NOT in a skid is important to knowing how it handles when it IS in a skid, because in the event, you'll know that you're skidding much quicker and you'll recognize how the car is reacting.

It's a good idea to try these maneuvers in open parking lots in slippery conditions as well, to teach yourself how your car will respond. Be sure to always be well clear of obstacles in public areas when testing your skills.

Basically, you'll find that when the back end of the car "fish-tails," or swings

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