Skids — Kentucky Permit Test

Kentucky skids are caused by traveling too fast for conditions, stopping too suddenly, or the tires no longer gripping the roadway.

Every one of those three is something the driver did, which is why a skid is preventable.

Skids are caused when you are traveling too fast for conditions, when you stop too suddenly, or when the tires can no longer grip the roadway.

Drivers without skid recovery skills panic, stomp on the brake and overcorrect the steering, which only makes a skid worse.

The instinctive reaction is the wrong one, which is why the right one has to be learned first.

Drivers without these skills respond to a skid by panicking, stomping on the brake, and then overcorrecting the steering.

To regain control of a skidding Kentucky vehicle a driver releases the brake or accelerator and looks where they want to go.

Looking where the car should go is what the hands follow without being told.

Release the brake or accelerator and look where you want to go.

A Kentucky driver skidding in a straight line with anti-lock brakes applies consistent pressure to the brake to slow the vehicle.

With anti-lock brakes the pedal can be held down, which is the opposite of the old advice.

If you are skidding in a straight line and your vehicle is equipped with anti-lock brakes, apply consistent pressure to the brake in order to slow the vehicle.

A Kentucky driver without anti-lock brakes should not brake hard in a skid, because that locks the wheels and makes the skid worse, and should pump the brakes gently instead.

Locked wheels cannot steer, so a hard stop in a skid takes away the only control left.

Instead, slow the vehicle by pumping the brakes gently.

A Kentucky driver skidding sideways turns the wheel in the direction the back of the vehicle is skidding, which lines the front up with the back.

Steering into the skid sounds backwards, and it is the only thing that works.

If you begin to skid sideways, you need to turn the wheel in the direction the back of the vehicle is skidding.

As a Kentucky vehicle begins to straighten out of a skid, the driver turns the steering wheel back to prevent it skidding the opposite direction.

The second skid, in the other direction, is the one that usually puts the car off the road.

As soon as the vehicle begins to straighten out, turn the steering wheel back to prevent the vehicle from skidding the opposite direction.

The most important vehicle control to use during a Kentucky skid is the steering wheel.

It is named so a driver reaching for the brake remembers what actually recovers the car.

The most important vehicle control to use during a skid is the steering wheel.

If a Kentucky vehicle leaves the paved road, the driver slows down gradually when safe and then turns quickly back onto the pavement, rather than panic steering.

Yanking the wheel the instant the wheels drop off is what flips a car into the oncoming lane.

If your vehicle leaves the paved road, slow down gradually, when safe to do so, and turn quickly back onto the pavement.

What does Kentucky say causes skids?

Traveling too fast, stopping too suddenly, or losing tire grip. Every one of those three is something the driver did, which is why a skid is preventable. Kentucky Driver Manual, p.55: “Skids are caused when you are traveling too fast for conditions, when you stop too suddenly, or when the tires can no longer grip the roadway.”