Major road crashes are often caused when a car driver loses control due to bad road conditions or incompetent driving. And loss of control of one’s car is not an uncommon experience. So it’s important to know how to handle your car if ever you find yourself in conditions that affect the way you would drive it normally. By Emily Bridges.
In good driving conditions on bitumen roads it’s important to keep at least a three-second gap between you and the car in front of you, and a four-to-six-second gap when you drive on loose surfaces, in the wet or other conditions where grip is reduced. That way, you minimise the likelihood of a crash if you do lose control of your vehicle.
Another thing to do when you drive on poor surfaces is just slow down. Tyre grip is greatly reduced on such surfaces so slower speeds help reduce the possibility of any slip or slide.
Also drive smoothly. In other words, keep a delicate touch on the steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedals, and resist making sudden or sharp moves.
Too much accelerator in a front-wheel drive can cause the front tyres to break traction and slide. Simply ease off the pedal so the wheels regain grip and you can straighten up. Similarly, too much acceleration in a rear-wheel drive may find the back of the car wanting to overtake the front! Again, ease off the accelerator, steer where you want to go, then reapply pressure on the pedal once the car has straightened out. Do not try to power out of the slide.
All-wheel drive can be an advantage on loose surfaces because it delivers drive to all the wheels; the power each tyre and wheel has to handle is reduced and thereby so too is slide or spin.
The tyres on many cars are not in good enough condition to cope with bad roads. There should be at least three to four millimetres of tread on the tyres to work properly in the rain or gravel surfaces. Many people think that grip is increased if you lower tyre pressures in bad weather conditions, but this is a myth. It is actually safer to keep tyre pressures toward the upper limit recommended by the tyre manufacturer (usually noted on the front door frame or on the inside of the glovebox lid).
Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) allow you to brake hard without the risk of wheel lock, but ABS doesn’t always mean you skid and slide less.
On good surfaces, a car with ABS won’t stop much quicker than one without. ABS is also less effective on dirt or gravel, as the tyres do not build up a wedge of gravel in front of them as happens with locked non-ABS tyres, which means the ultimate brake force is not as great. However, ABS allows the driver to brake hard and steer to possibly avoid a collision, and in rain and snow they can help to avoid brake-induced skids.
If your car is equipped with ABS try to use it as an emergency safety reserve only — it should rarely be triggered in everyday driving.
Icy conditions Ice on the road is common in the Snowy Mountains and Blue Mountains in winter and can be a real hazard. Here’s a few things to keep in mind:
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