To help avoid skidding on slippery surfaces, you should:
Shift to a lower gear after starting down a steep hill.
Speed up to enter curves and slow down to exit them.
Slow down before entering curves and intersections.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is :
The correct answer is: Slow down before entering curves and intersections.
When driving on slippery surfaces, such as wet, icy, or snowy roads, it’s crucial to adjust your driving techniques to maintain control of the vehicle and avoid skidding. One of the best ways to do this is to slow down before entering curves and intersections.
Explanation:
- Increased Risk of Skidding on Slippery Roads: Slippery roads reduce the traction between the tires and the surface, which makes it easier for a vehicle to lose control. High speeds exacerbate this risk, especially when turning or navigating curves. Entering curves too quickly can cause the tires to lose grip, resulting in a skid. Therefore, it’s essential to reduce your speed before you approach curves, intersections, and other areas where sharp turns or sudden stops may occur.
- Safe Turning on Slippery Surfaces: When you enter a curve too fast, the centrifugal force increases, which may cause your vehicle to slide outward or even roll over in extreme cases. By slowing down, you ensure that your tires maintain contact with the road, minimizing the chance of losing control. This is particularly important when turning on icy or wet roads, where the friction is significantly reduced.
- Handling Intersections: Intersections are areas where vehicles often need to stop, turn, or yield to other traffic. Approaching intersections at a high speed on slippery surfaces can lead to accidents, as you may not have enough time to slow down and make a safe turn. By reducing your speed before entering, you have better control and more time to react if conditions are worse than expected.
- Avoiding Overcorrection: Sudden or extreme steering movements when skidding can worsen the situation. If you slow down beforehand, you reduce the likelihood of needing to make sudden steering adjustments, which can trigger a skid or loss of control.
In summary, slowing down before curves and intersections allows for safer handling of slippery roads, giving you more time to react and reducing the chances of losing control.