As soon as your car begins to skid, what does the manual tell you to do with the brakes?
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A.
Pump the brakes rapidly until the tires grip.
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B.
Apply the parking brake instead of the foot brake.
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C.
Press the brake pedal firmly to slow down quickly.
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D.
Do not hit the brakes suddenly and hard. Correct
The answer is "Do not hit the brakes suddenly and hard."
The manual says do not hit the brakes suddenly and hard, and to take your foot off the gas. Option C is the trap for drivers who reach for the emergency-stop reflex (slam the pedal to stop as fast as possible), a response built for a car that still has traction rather than one whose tires are already sliding.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Pump the brakes rapidly until the tires grip.
The manual does not list pumping in the skid steps; it says to lift off the gas and steer into the skid. This answer applies the pre-ABS brake-pumping technique taught before anti-lock brakes were standard, when releasing and reapplying was the way to keep locked wheels from destroying steering.
B. Apply the parking brake instead of the foot brake.
The parking brake locks the rear wheels and throws the car deeper into a skid. This answer borrows the parking-brake instruction the manual gives in the adjacent Brake Failure section and misapplies it to a skid, where locking the rear wheels ends any chance of recovery.
C. Press the brake pedal firmly to slow down quickly.
Firm braking during a skid locks the wheels, and locked wheels cannot steer or find grip. This answer carries the emergency-stop reflex (slam the pedal to stop as fast as possible) into a situation where the tires are already sliding and need to keep rolling to regain grip.
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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