Winter skids and blizzards — Wyoming Permit Test

On slippery roads, pumping conventional brakes about once every second is a good rule of thumb, but do not pump ABS brakes, which do it automatically.

Jamming on ordinary brakes locks the wheels and starts a skid, while ABS already pumps far faster than you can.

Pumping those brakes once every second is a good rule of thumb. But don't pump ABS brakes.

If you begin to skid on a slippery road, gently turn into the skid and ease your foot off the gas until you regain control.

Fighting a skid with hard steering or more gas makes the tires lose even more grip.

But if you begin to skid, gently turn into the skid and ease your foot off the gas until you regain control.

In a ground blizzard, if you lose your bearings, roll down the window and look on the downwind side of the car for the center stripe or the road's edge.

Blowing snow is thinnest on the side the wind is moving away from, so that is where you can still see the road lines.

If you do lose your bearings, roll down the window and look on the downwind side of the car to determine where you are on the road, by using either the center stripe or the edge of the road.

If the vehicle in front of you spins out on an icy hill, stay in line and wait for a snowplow to clear the way.

Pulling out to go around puts you on the same ice that just stopped the other car, and blocks the plow.

If the vehicle in front of you spins out on an icy hill, stay in line. Wait for a snowplow to clear the way.

If you stop to help someone who slid off an icy road, park well away from the crash site and be ready to get out of the way if anyone else loses control there.

The ice that caught the first driver is still there, and the next car can slide into the same spot.

Park well away at the crash site, and be ready to get out of the way should anyone else lose control at the same icy location.

On ice in a car with conventional brakes, how often should you pump the brakes?

About once every second. Jamming on ordinary brakes locks the wheels and starts a skid, while ABS already pumps far faster than you can. Wyoming Rules of the Road Driver License Manual, p.46: “Pumping those brakes once every second is a good rule of thumb. But don't pump ABS brakes.”