How to correct a slide on an icy road (and how to prevent them) - Winter driving education
Summary
TLDRThis video from icyroadsafety.com, hosted by Dan Robinson, educates drivers on handling and preventing slides on icy roads. Key points include monitoring weather for icy conditions, slowing down to avoid slides, and the importance of speed—most fatal crashes occur at high speeds. The video also explains the difference between oversteer and understeer, emphasizing the commonality of oversteer in icy conditions. It provides practical advice on correcting a slide by not using brakes, turning into the slide, and avoiding panic or overcorrection. Real-world examples illustrate the challenges and the importance of staying under 45mph on icy roads to enhance safety.
Takeaways
- ❄️ Be aware of weather conditions in winter to anticipate icy roads.
- 🚗 Slow down when icy roads are imminent or in progress to prevent slides.
- 📱 Use weather apps to monitor precipitation and temperatures to stay informed.
- 🌡️ Even light snow or ice can make roads dangerous, so adjust your speed accordingly.
- 🌉 Be extra cautious on bridges and overpasses as they freeze faster than other road surfaces.
- 🏎️ High speeds increase the risk of losing control during a slide; keep your speed below 45mph on icy roads.
- 💥 Oversteer is the most common cause of crashes at high speeds on icy roads.
- 🚫 Avoid using brakes during a slide as it can make the situation worse.
- 🔄 Turn into the slide by steering in the direction of the rear slide to regain control.
- 😯 Stay calm and avoid overcorrecting to prevent the car from spinning out during a slide.
Q & A
What is the primary focus of the video by Dan Robinson from icyroadsafety.com?
-The primary focus of the video is to demonstrate how to correct a slide on an icy road and, more importantly, how to avoid one in the first place.
What are the three main points discussed in the video regarding icy road slides?
-The three main points discussed are: being aware of weather conditions, slowing down when icy roads are imminent or in progress, and responding appropriately if the vehicle begins to slide.
How can drivers avoid encountering ice on the roads during winter?
-Drivers can avoid encountering ice by keeping track of precipitation in their area when temperatures are near or below freezing, using weather apps on their phones, and being cautious as ice can form even with light snowfall.
Why are bridges and overpasses particularly prone to icing?
-Bridges and overpasses are more exposed to air than the road surface, causing them to cool much faster than the surrounding pavement, leading to quicker ice formation.
What is the recommended speed limit for driving on icy roads according to the video?
-The recommended speed limit for driving on icy roads is below 45mph (70 km/h), even on highways, to reduce the risk of losing control during a slide.
What is the difference between oversteer and understeer, and which one is more common on icy roads?
-Oversteer occurs when the rear wheels lose grip, causing the back end of the car to slide outward opposite the direction of steering input. Understeer happens when the front wheels lose grip in a turn, causing the car to continue straight. Oversteer is more common on icy roads and is often the cause of crashes at high speeds.
What is the first step to take when correcting an oversteer slide on an icy road?
-The first step in correcting an oversteer slide is not to use the brakes, as braking can trigger or worsen a slide.
How should drivers turn their steering wheel when their car begins to slide on an icy road?
-Drivers should turn their front wheels in the same direction as the rear of the vehicle is sliding, also known as 'turning into the slide'.
Why is it important not to panic or overcorrect when a car begins to slide on ice?
-Panicking or overcorrecting can cause the car to rotate faster into a full spin, making it more difficult to regain control. It's crucial to make small, controlled adjustments to the steering wheel to counteract the slide.
What real-world examples does the video provide to illustrate the consequences of hitting the brakes during a slide?
-The video shows examples where drivers lose control almost instantly once they hit the brakes, leading to total spinouts and highlighting the importance of not using brakes during a slide.
What is the main takeaway from the video regarding driving on icy roads?
-The main takeaway is that while correcting a slide is possible, it becomes significantly more difficult at higher speeds. Slowing down to below 45mph when icy roads are imminent or in progress is the best strategy to avoid a slide in the first place.
Outlines
🚗 Winter Driving Safety: Avoiding and Correcting Slides
This paragraph introduces the video's focus on winter driving safety, specifically on how to avoid and correct slides on icy roads. Dan Robinson from icyroadsafety.com emphasizes the importance of being aware of weather conditions, slowing down when icy roads are expected, and responding appropriately if a slide occurs. The video discusses the significance of monitoring weather apps for precipitation and temperature, the increased danger of light snow and ice, and the unique risks of bridges and overpasses. The key message is to slow down to avoid slides, as most fatal crashes happen at high speeds.
🛑 The Dangers of Braking During a Slide
This paragraph delves into the mechanics of slide correction, starting with the critical advice against using brakes during a slide, as it can exacerbate the situation. The video illustrates how braking can lead to a complete loss of control and a spinout. It explains the concept of 'turning into the slide', which involves steering in the direction the rear of the vehicle is sliding to regain control. The importance of maintaining a steady gaze on the intended direction of travel is highlighted, along with the need to be prepared for the car's oscillation between directions during slide correction. The paragraph concludes with real-world examples of slide corrections, emphasizing the difficulty of the process and the potential for overcorrection.
🌟 Success Stories and the Importance of Speed Control
The final paragraph showcases real-world examples of drivers correcting slides, highlighting the role of both skill and luck in successful outcomes. It discusses the challenges of transitioning from icy to wet pavement and the increased difficulty of slide correction at higher speeds. The video reiterates the importance of maintaining a speed below 45mph on icy roads to enhance the likelihood of avoiding a slide altogether. The key takeaway is that while slide correction is possible, it becomes significantly more challenging at higher velocities, reinforcing the message to slow down as a preventative measure.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Heart-stopping moment
💡Icy road slide
💡Weather conditions
💡Slow down
💡Oversteer
💡Understeer
💡Braking
💡Turn into the slide
💡Overcorrect
💡Angular momentum
Highlights
The video teaches how to correct a slide on an icy road and how to avoid one.
Dan Robinson from icyroadsafety.com discusses three main points for dealing with icy road slides.
Being aware of weather conditions is crucial for winter driving safety.
Slowing down when icy roads are imminent or in progress is advised.
Appropriate response to a vehicle slide is essential.
Using weather apps can help track precipitation and avoid icy conditions.
Most fatal icy road crashes occur with light snow and ice amounts.
Bridges and overpasses are common places for surprise ice due to faster cooling.
Slowing down is the most important driving technique on icy roads.
High speeds increase the likelihood of losing control on icy roads.
Oversteer and understeer are common on icy roads, with oversteer being more dangerous.
Braking during a slide can make it worse and is a common mistake.
Turning into the slide is a recommended method for correcting an oversteer.
Avoiding panic and overcorrection is key to successfully correcting a slide.
Real-world examples demonstrate the difficulty of correcting slides at high speeds.
Slowing down to below 45mph on icy roads can help avoid slides.
Transcripts
It's a heart-stopping moment.
Has it happened to you yet? If it hasn't, it will -
- unless you're prepared.
This video will show you how to correct
a slide on an icy road,
but more importantly,
help you avoid one in the first place.
This is Dan Robinson with icyroadsafety.com
We're going to talk about
three main points in this video when it
comes to dealing with icy road slides.
The first one:
be aware of the weather conditions in the wintertime.
SLOW DOWN when icy
roads are imminent or in progress, and 3,
respond appropriately
if your vehicle begins to slide.
Before we get into correcting a slide,
let's talk about how you can avoid one
in the first place.
Any time the temperatures are near or below freezing,
keep track of the precipitation in your
area before you get on the road.
There are many apps you can use on your phone
to keep track of the weather.
If precipitation is in the forecast and the
temperatures are below freezing,
you can encounter ice at any time.
it doesn't take much snow or ice to make roads dangerous.
Most fatal icy road crashes occur with
very light snow and ice amounts on the roads.
When precipitation amounts are light,
most drivers tend to be going full
speed and are caught off-guard by sudden patches of ice.
One of the most common places for
surprise ice is on bridges and
overpasses. A bridge is more exposed to
air than the road surface, so it tends to
cool much faster than the surrounding pavement.
After only an hour, this bridge
was completely covered in snow, while the
adjacent roads were completely snow free.
When it comes to icy roads, the most important driving
technique is very simple: SLOW DOWN.
If you stay aware of the
weather conditions and slow down when
icing is expected or in progress,
you'll avoid getting into a dangerous slide in the first place
That's always the better outcome.
The statistics show that most serious and
fatal icy road crashes happen at high
speeds, generally above 45 miles an hour.
The higher your speed, the more likely
you are to lose control, and the more
difficult a slide will be correct successfully.
Your speed should never be
above 45mph (70 km/h) on icy roads, even on a highway.
Some types of road icing
are more dangerous, and may require even slower speeds.
In some cases, it's just a
bad idea to be on the road at all.
As a general rule, if your car begins to
fishtail or slide, it's a sign you're going
too fast for the conditions.
Before we talk about correcting a slide,
let's talk about oversteer and understeer.
Both of these conditions can
happen on icy roads, but it's oversteer
that is the most common cause of crashes at high speeds.
Understeer happens when
your front wheels lose grip in a turn,
causing your car to keep going straight
even though your wheels are turned to one side.
Oversteer, on the other hand, happens when
your rear wheels lose grip with the road.
In an oversteer condition, the back end
of the car will slide outward, opposite
the direction of your steering input.
Oversteer slides can happen when
rounding a curve, turning a corner, or
even with a slight steering motion such
as changing lanes on a highway.
Most fishtailing is an oversteer condition.
Slides can also be triggered by braking
or accelerating. Both of these are
actions that can cause one or more of
the vehicle's wheels to lose their grip.
Now that we've covered
the basics of preventing a slide,
let's talk about what to do if one happens.
There are three points to remember about
oversteer slide correction.
1. don't use your brakes,
2. Turn into the slide, and
3. Don't panic and don't overcorrect.
The first point we're going to cover is:
Don't use your brakes.
This is one of the most common mistakes
drivers make during a slide on an icy road.
Braking cannot only trigger a slide,
it will make a slide worse.
Here's a good example. Watch the brake
lights on this car. The car loses
complete control almost instantly
once the driver hits the brakes.
Braking, in this case, caused a total spinout
before the driver even had a chance to
correct the slide. For slide correction to
work, your wheels need to be turning freely.
The second point: Turn your front wheels
in the same direction that the rear of
the vehicle is sliding. You've also heard
about "turning into the slide". These both
mean the same thing. For example, if the
back of your car slides to the right,
turn the wheel to the right. As the car
straightens out, straighten the steering wheel.
It's helpful to keep your eyes
focused on where you want the car to go -
- that is, on the road ahead.
The amount you'll need to turn the wheel is
proportional to how far and how fast the
back of your car is sliding.
A small slide will only require a slight
steering motion.
What often makes correcting slide so
difficult is that once your car begins
to respond to you turning the wheel,
it will often snap back in the other direction.
When you're in the process of
correcting a slide in one direction,
be prepared for the car to swing back in
the opposite direction. This oscillation
can happen several times, and you'll need
to respond accordingly.
Let's take a look at correcting a couple
of real-world slides from the driver's view.
The steering wheel position is superimposed.
Finally, the last point: Don't panic and don't overcorrect.
An oversteer slide gives the
car angular momentum, which means it
will want to keep rotating into a full spin.
Overcorrecting will send the car
rotating faster than a steering can
counter and the car will spin out.
Let's take a look at some real-world
examples of accidents and slides -
some that were corrected successfully,
some that weren't. So let's take a look at
this video here. This is a bridge,
an interstate bridge, that curves pretty
sharply to the left here. This is in
Charleston, West Virginia. I want you to
notice the car's wheels, and which
direction the car rotates. So first of all,
the car is rounding a curve here, and
you can see the back end comes out to the right.
Now the driver right here is
responding correctly - you see his wheels
are turned just a little bit back to the right in
the direction and he's sliding.
Now, I want you to look at how the car responds
to him turning the wheel to the right.
See, the car comes back, and now it snaps
back over to the left, and you can see
again, he's turning his wheel to the left
to correct, which is the right move.
But then watch what happens.
The car slides back out to the right.
At this stage, he's overcorrected.
It was just a little bit too much, and it sent
the back end sliding out to the right - far
to the right. Now, once again, turning the
wheel to the right, and watch what happens.
So there, he corrects, see how the car will
go back in the opposite direction?
So he's turning the wheel back to the left
to counter that little slide to the left,
but unfortunately in this case it's
going to be a little too much.
So again, this driver was only going about 55mph,
but you can see how
difficult it is, even if you respond correctly.
It's very easy to overcorrect at
high speeds.
What I'm about to show you here is a
very rare event. This is somebody that
successfully corrected a slide.
So let's watch and see what happens.
The guy is going around the curve here,
which is curving to the left - which means in
most cases, an oversteer slide is going
to make his car slide out to the right.
Which is exactly what happens.
So let's watch.
See right there - back of the car comes
around to the right. The driver
appropriately steers to the right
to counter,
and you can see how the car comes back
out to the left to respond to that.
And he manages to correct it. Now the other
thing here you can see,
one of the reasons this driver was able
to pull this off
is he ended up on a section of the road
that was actually salted, and so
there wasn't as much ice right here
where he was, so that kind of helped him
out there. But you can see that it takes
a little bit of luck in addition to the skill.
Now this one is going to be an
interesting one.
This driver, again, going around a
right-hand curve, which way do you expect the
back end of the car to come out? It's going
to be coming out to the left. Right there,
the back end comes out to the left, you can
see the driver responding correctly,
he's turning his wheels to the left to
counter that slide,
and then the back end
comes back around to the right, he's
countering again, same thing.
Now this is an interesting situation,
because right ahead of this car is the
end of the bridge. So, he's on ice right
now, but he's about to drive on pavement
that's just wet, so his tires are going
to grab suddenly and make him swing
around the other direction.
This next clip is going to be in an
identical time and place - same situation
as the previous vehicle. The driver
enters the right-hand turn, the back of the
car swings out to the left as it starts to slide,
the driver steers just slightly
to the left, just enough to get it back in line,
the car rebounds a little bit to the right,
the driver corrects, and actually
manages to pull this off.
Let's watch it again.
Here's yet another example of why you don't want to hit your brakes.
I want you to pay attention to the brake
lights on this pickup truck.
Watch what happens as soon as the brake lights light up.
This driver wasn't even much of a slide
until he hit his brakes.
The main takeaway from this video is that
correcting a slide can be done, but it
becomes much more difficult at higher
speeds. If you slow down to below 45mph (70 km/h)
when icy roads are
imminent or in progress, you'll end up
with the best possible outcome:
avoiding a slide in the first place.
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