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Whilst driving in the Winter months, or during a snowstorm, freezing rain or other inclement weather, you may find yourself losing control of your vehicle and going into a skid, or a slide. If the skid is not correctly adjusted for and reacted to, a total spin-out may be in your immediate future, and once you are spinning, you may as well just let go of the gas and hold on for dear life. Front-wheel drive vehicles may experience rear-wheel skids, or slides, more frequently than rear-wheel drive vehicles, but the rules for regaining control of your vehicle remain the same for both types of vehicle.

Do not, under any circumstances, hit the brakes while encountering a skid. Many people react by slamming on the brakes and steering into the skid, or braking and turning at the same time. Both of these scenarios are wrong, and will turn your skid into an all-out spin-out. The reasons for learning how to control your vehicle during a skid include being able to save your life, as well as the lives of any passengers in your car and vehicles that may be in your path, when your vehicle encounters a skidding condition. Skids can be caused by driving over black ice, which looks like normal pavement but is solid ice and can be eadly on a highway curve, or even a by encountering a thin layer of water, from the dew of the early morning, mixed in with the oils that are left behind on the roads by vehicles.

The first rule of thumb in regaining control of your vehicle in a skid is to remain calm, do not get excited or agitated. That would just make it harder to act in the quick, smart fashion that is required. Loosen off of the accelerator, and slowly turn into the skid; if your rear wheels are coming out from the left behind you, slowly steer to the left, while decelerating, until you have regained control of your vehicle. If your rear wheels are coming out from the right behind you, decelerate and steer slowly to the right, until you have regained control of your vehicle.

When driving regularly in the winter, there really is no reason for not having a set of good winter snow tires on your vehicle. Winter snow tires are made so that they do not lose as much air pressure in the extreme cold as all-season tires do, and they have much better traction on snowy and icy roads. If you have a full set of winter tires, the dealer that sold them to you will store them for you during the summer months, when you are using the all-season tires again. Snow tires will save lives; yours, your passengers

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