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Techniques for controlling your car in a skid vary slightly depending on the type and cause of the skid, road conditions, and what caused the skid in the first place.

There are many possible causes for a skid. For example: applying the brakes to hard and/or fast for the speed you're traveling at for the current road conditions. This usually happens when you're following someone too closely and they stop unexpectedly or faster than you expected, something unexpected suddenly appears in your path that you're trying to avoid hitting, or there is ice, snow, or rain on the road. Another, often overlooked cause is simply inadequate tread left on your tires. This can be compounded by other worn out suspension system components, such as shocks, tie-rod ends, and CV (constant velocity joints). The bottom line here is this: your car's tires cannot maintain adequate friction or contact with the road for the current road conditions at the speed you're traveling at.

No matter what the cause, it is imperative that you do not panic. You must maintain your composure to minimize your chances of making a bad situation even worse. Doing so will allow you to think quickly, then react appropriately to do what is needed in order to prevent or minimize an accident.

If you suddenly feel your car's rear end drifting out to one side or the other (called fish-tailing), you will need to steer the car in the same direction that the rear end is fish-tailing. By performing this correction directly proportional to the amount the rear end of the car is fish tailing, you will prevent the car from getting completely sideways or spinning out of control. The correction will force the rear end back where it belongs and keep the car heading straight. If the rear end of your car begins to drift or fish-tail toward the left, then steer into it by also steering left just enough to keep yourself straight. If the rear end of your car begins to drift to the right, then steer to the right just enough to get the car heading in a straight line again. The sooner you begin this corrective action after you begin to feel the rear end going off in one direction or the other, the less correction will be needed, minimizing the odds that you will over-correct and cause the rear end to fish-tail or drift in the opposite direction. If you do over-correct, then you will need to continue taking corrective action by steering in the same direction that the rear end of the car is trying to go in until the drifting stops.

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