Your rear tires break loose and the car begins to skid. Which way does the manual tell you to turn the steering wheel?
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A.
Turn opposite the skid to catch the slide.
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B.
Hold the wheel straight and brake hard.
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C.
Turn the wheel in the direction of the skid. Correct
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D.
Turn slightly away while giving light throttle.
The answer is "Turn the wheel in the direction of the skid."
The manual tells you to turn your steering wheel in the direction of the skid, which lets the front tires realign with the car's actual path. Option A comes from the intuitive habit of pointing the car where you want it to go, which is the opposite of what recovers a skid.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Turn opposite the skid to catch the slide.
Steering opposite the slide rotates the front tires against the car's motion and often deepens the spin. This answer follows the instinct to point the car where you want it, a reflex the manual specifically replaces with the direction-of-skid rule.
B. Hold the wheel straight and brake hard.
Holding straight with hard braking removes both steering input and traction; the manual warns against sudden hard braking. This answer reaches for the panic-stop reflex from routine driving, treating a skid as any other emergency stop.
D. Turn slightly away while giving light throttle.
Adding throttle drives the wheels harder and worsens the loss of traction; the manual says to lift off the gas. This answer borrows a rally-driving idea about throttle-steering that the manual does not sanction for a passenger car.
This question tests your knowledge of Adverse Conditions in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Chapter 9: Some Special Driving Situations - Steering Out of a Skid," p.48..
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