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General Knowledge · Skid Control and Recovery

How should a driver correct a rear-wheel braking skid?

1.Stop braking, so the rear wheels can roll and regain traction, and countersteer promptly to get back on courseCorrect answer
2.Brake harder than you were before, so that the skid is brought to a stop faster than it otherwise would be
3.Steer opposite the direction of the skid and then hold that same steering position until the vehicle straightens itself out again
4.Accelerate firmly to pull the vehicle back into a straight line along its own original lane of travel on the road

Explanation

The correct response to a rear-wheel braking skid is to stop braking, which lets the locked wheels roll again and regain traction, and to countersteer promptly as the vehicle starts to come back on course, since it will tend to keep turning if the wheel isn't turned back in time. 49 CFR 383.111(a)(15) names procedures for recovering from skids without describing them, so this is standard driver-training content, attributed to the manual. The wrong options each make the skid worse: braking harder keeps the wheels locked rather than letting them roll, holding a steering position rather than countersteering back in time leads to a skid in the opposite direction, and accelerating adds more demand on wheels that have already lost traction.

Source: 49 CFR 383.111(a)(15)

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