What should you do if your car spins out while you are driving?

Question

Should you steer the other way? Should you press brakes? What's the best thing to do?

Answer 1

counter steer (steer into the skid, front tires always facing the direction you want to go). let off the gas. try to not touch the brake until you are slowed down or facing the right direction again.

If you totaly spin out you are most likely screwed. try the above but it will most likely go to quicky. call a tow truck.

Answer 2

Always turn the wheels so that they are pointing in the direction you want the car to go, and do not touch the brake, or you will lose control for good.

If you have a rear wheel drive, gently ease off the gas. The rear of the car will lose speed as it slides, and if the front is still coasting, it will pull ahead of the rear, causing the car to straighten. Remember to keep the wheels pointed in the direction you want to go at all times, or you will simply start another slide, this time facing the other way.

If the car is front wheel drive, gently squeeze the gas just a little bit (the rear wheels are slowly losing speed as they slide - letting the front pull ahead will straighten the car out. Be careful not to spin your front wheels, as it won't work unless the front pulls ahead of the rear. You must have some traction on the front wheels.

And if all 4 wheels are sliding, just push on the brakes with both feet and hang on - there's not much you can do at that point.

Find an empty field of parking lot when it's snowy and practice. Turn the wheel, then use the handbrake to start the slide. Then follow the routine for whatever type of car you have (RWD or FWD.) Just remember that it is exactly the same on dry road, but everything happens much faster.

Answer 3

The bottom line to this question depends on the type of braking system you have. ABS is an advanced electronic braking system. With this system, you don't pump the brakes...just hold the brake pedal down firmly and let the anti-lock work for you (while this system is working, you will hear some noise and feel a pulsation, but this is only the system doing it's job.) As far as your steering is concerned, steer slightly (don't jerk the wheel) in the direction of the spin and the car will eventually stop. Most people get scared and quickly jerk the car in the opposite direction.. This can cause major problems.

Answer 4

A wheel that's slipping or spinning is no better than a hockey puck, so job 1 is getting all the tires turning with the road. That means get off the gas, get off the brake, and keep the front wheels so they're pointing in the direction the car's actually moving. Most likely it'll straighten out by itself.

Then notice what you did that caused the spin-out (too much gas, brakes or steering for conditions) and adjust your driving for the actual conditions.

When I drove a rear wheel drive car, I would deliberately tap the gas to feel what it would take to get the rear wheels to break away. That gave me an idea how slippery the road was.

The other fellow is right, learn to do this before you "need to know"! Driving in winter can be fun if you know what you're doing, coz then you're not scared.

Answer 5

if it STARTS to spin out, foot OFF the gas, and tri to keep your tires pointed the direction you WERE going (in otherwords, turn them the OPPOSITE way as the way you're starting to turn). This helps if you're just starting to spin and you're not ACTUALLY spinning. If you catch it early,you're good. However, if you don't, and your cars already past the point of no reaturn, you can either (a) stick it out. Unless the car flips, of you're hydroplaning (which you SHOULDN'T be because you're a safe driver obeying all speed laws), it won't end too bad. you may nail another car, or bounce into a divider. Cliff = different story. OR, you can (b) yank the E-brake for extra style points and, if you're lucky, you'll end up pointed the right direction, so it TOTALLY looks like you meant to do it.

HOWEVER... if you go airborn, you have to do something different. First of all, get your head BELOW THE DASHBOARD. that way, if you land on the roof, you're ok. second, slide your hands to 9 and 3. you DON'T want them on top of the wheel.

I think spinning out isn't as bad or deadly as everybody makes it sound. Barring certain examples (extreme speed, water, or an imovable object that you hit doing 70), you're not gonna be to banged up. Oh, you'll feel it, but statistically, you're not gonna die. Your car MIGHT stall, though. not sure why.

All in all, the best thing to do is NOT SPIN OUT in the first place. Cars, contrary to popular belief, don't actually WANT to spin out. they have to be coaxed to by driving. (e.g. turns to fast, e-braking, drifting, etc.). Don't be stupid, and you'll be fine.

-Kohvu

Answer 6

It depends why you span out in the first place...

Slippery surface? take off power, gently steer into the skid, cadence-brake very softly, unless you have ABS

Too much power? Power off, turn into the skid, hope to see and escape route, soft power on.


If you're actually spinning, as opposed to sliding, it's unlikely that you will have time or room to correct it, becasue you had to be going pretty fast to make it happen in the first place... so concentrate on surviving it. If you can find something soft, hit it - and, in this case, "soft" is relative... hedges and fences are soft, concrete is not. Vehicles going in the same direction are softer than those coming the other way. Bridge supports are bad news, whichever way they're going.

If you can see an escape route coming by (open space, field, etc), try to aim for it, using minimal power.

Look out for ditches, gullies, kerbs.. things that will roll you.
Climbing out of a car that's upside down is lot less easy.


Accept that you're GOING to crash. Try to do it gracefully, let your car take the impact - that's why it has crumple zones - and try not to take anyone else with you.

If you happen to be on your cellphone (which is likely why you're out of control), tell the person on the phone where you are. They may be the ones to get aid to you, and it's amazing how much you can say in the few second it takes the back of that 18-wheeler to get closer, and closer and...

Answer 7

You can see that you got eight completely different answers so far. I am sure there will be more, and all of them being part wrong.
You haven't given enough detail to get a good answer. Start with some basic information. What is the speed, road conditions, raining, gravel, wet dry, concrete, asphalt, ice, snow. Add in front wheel, rear wheel, or four wheel drive. What type of tires, how much tread. As you can see a simple question can have a lot of variables.

Answer 8

Since presumably you aren't asking this *during* the event, I think the best thing to do is try to find a way to practice *before* you actually need to know. If it snows where you are, try to find a big open parking lot well away from cars, lamp posts, etc. and try putting the car into a skid or spin. If you have a friend who is more experienced at impromptu stunt driving, take him or her with you. You'll soon find what works best for you. It needs to be a reflex -- in a real unplanned spinout, you aren't going to have time to "remember" what to do. If your state highway patrol offers a winter driving course, you might consider taking it.

Good luck and happy landings.

Answer 9

Let off the gas. Turn the wheels in the direction of the skid. No brakes. Practice in an empty parking lot that hasn't been plowed out yet.

Answer 10

Using your steering wheel, keep the front wheels pointing in the direction you want to go.