Say you’re skidding right? As in, your car has gone into a skid because you’ve hit some standing water or black ice. And let’s assume that it’s the back end that’s coming round. The advice in this situation is to ‘steer into the skid’.

Now, what I understand by the phrase ‘steer into a skid’ is if the back end is slipping to the right, then you, the driver, should also turn the wheel to the right, in the hope of bring the front and rear of the car into line.

However, whenever I hear this piece of advice given out — as I did just now, on the radio — it’s almost always qualified by something along the lines of ‘it might feel weird’ or ‘it sounds counter-intuitive’.

But why? Why do they always say this? In effect what you’re doing is turning the steering wheel in the direction you want the front tyres to point, which is the basic principle of all steering. So why in a skid situation should it feel strange to do that? Is it just the case that it does, and I would understand if I ever went into a skid? Or have » Continue Reading.