No. I totaled my truck a few years ago. It started to spin I took my foot off the gas and my hands off the wheel. I didn’t even try to break. I closed my eyes because I did not want to see what was going to happen. Luckily there was no traffic until after I was stopped by a telephone pole. A nice man named Dennis climbed through loads of snow and rescued me. I was unhurt, the truck did not go down into the ravine; but sadly did not recover.
Now I drive AWD. But then that truck was 4WD and I was creeping along. So I guess I should go practice as soon as the freak’n snow stops.
Between Nebraska ice storms and Colorado blizzards, I’ve spun 360 on four separate occasions without so much as a dent. I can’t explain it; a combination of intuition and luck. Twice I’ve used the accelerator to increase the rate of spin to get what I wanted.
My earliest experience: Minimally experienced teen driver, late 1960’s, Los Angeles area, heavy rain with flooded intersections, but nothing like snow or ice. Went into skid like that turning a corner.
I just instinctively did all the right things, and recovered nicely. I only thought about it afterward. To be sure, of course, I was turning a corner, so this all happened at very low speed. That always helps.
Speaking of recovering from spins – That same year ( plus or minus a year maybe) I was also taking some flying lessons. The first time I got to try a stall, the plane fell into a spin. There, too, I just instinctively did something which turned out to be exactly the right thing, and the instructor was pleased. (Note, for the earthbound, that stall and spin and skid all mean something rather different in airplanes than in cars.)
Honest question: how are you guys spinning out often enough that this is a commonly used skill? I’ve been driving in New England in small cars for almost 15 years now, all weather, and it’s strictly a theory thing for me (and from my dad, certainly not from driver’s ed). I certainly wouldn’t expect a random teen or twenty-something to have the skill unless I knew they were really into cars/driving.
If, by random teen, you’re referring to my post just above: Well, it doesn’t happen often, to me anyway. There was that time, then not long after that, similarly on a patch of mud. Oh, and a rather bad case of spinning on a patch of loose sand and gravel more recently. In that case, it was on a winding mountainous two-lane road, and I was all over the road pointing in all directions at once. What saved me that time, mainly, was (a) no cliffs on either side, and (b) driver of on-coming vehicle had the good sense to stop, while still a ways away, and wait for the dust to settle. And that’s pretty much all I remember of spins and skids in my 40+ year driving history.
I did stalls and spins in a sailplane too, but that was always training or practice – never inadvertently. Sailplane spins are fun.
I wasn’t referring to anyone in particular - and I’m glad your incidents turned out well for you. More in terms of snow training, though, I’d think the more relevant lesson would be “go slow and be really freaking careful with your turns if the road is icy/not plowed/black ice”. Which I think is how driver’s ed also rolls, these days, and which is why I’m sort of surprised to see people talking about spinning out as an inevitable function of driving in our lovely northern climes.
Whenever I hear the term “Point the wheels the way you want to go” I get reminded of one of my more interesting trips.
It was March, and fairly warm , and 18 inches of a heavy wet snow fell. Not many people went out, the roads only had a couple tracks in each lane.Then the temperature dropped to damn cold, and the tracks froze hard.
Late at night, I got a call from my sister who had gotten stuck in her Jeep, and went out in my 4X4 truck to save her dumb ass. Things were going okay, but I couldn’t drive too slowly because momentum is your friend in deep snow. After a bit I crossed the first mile road, which had been plowed. As I hit the snowplow’s detritus, it was much harder than I had assumed and very painfully to my back , went over it, rather than through it.
By the time I came down the nose was in the wrong tracks. My right front tire was in the left track, my left front tire was in the right track for the left lane. The rear tire were in the correct tracks, but trying to chew leftward, but making no progress against the icy side of the track. I didn’t want to risk losing momentum, so I drove like that until the next mile cross road which was also plowed, and got back on track. Thank god no one was coming the other way
You do a little of it escaping a spin, or even power-sliding, But It’s a very surreal feeling, and extremely uneasy feeling, orienting yourself to aim the tires 30 degrees starboard, for a full mile, in order to go straight.
I was in a 360° spin once, eons ago. I was driving from Baltimore to DC on the BW Parkway on an icy day not too long after the parkway had been resurfaced, so it was nice and smooth. Yeah, I shouldn’t have been out anyway, but I was still young enough that I felt compelled to go to work no matter what. Because of the ice, everyone was going slowly, and that’s what saved me.
I don’t recall exactly what I did, but suddenly I was doing a slow counterclockwise spin. I stayed off the gas and brake and watched the scenery spin by in slow motion. When I was facing behind the direction I was traveling, I was relieved to see that the nearest vehicle was quite a ways behind me! And as soon as I was facing forward again, I was able to control the car.
At that point, I gingerly eased my way to the right shoulder, which was a bit uneven, and with that traction, I was able to take the next exit, which was, fortunately, less than 100 yards away. As soon as I got on the surface road, I headed home without too much difficulty. Lesson learned - no job is worth driving in such conditions. And my boss had no problem with me not making it in that day.
And to this day, I avoid going out when the roads are iced. Oh, and I do know what you’re supposed to do, but I never had need to do it. I suspect on my icy adventure, had I tried to do anything, it would have made things worse. Maybe not, but it all worked out in the end. Oh yeah, and I was driving a Chevette! Is that impressive or what???
First, understeer isn’t a spin. Second, as a general rule you will only experience understeer in front- and four-wheel-drive cars, and oversteer in RWD cars.
It’s possible to make a front wheel drive car oversteer but if you know how you’re unlikely to need help maintaining control.
Not true in snowy/icy conditions. It is slick around here in the winter. In the residential / poorly-plowed areas, I oversteer around every corner in my FWD cars. It happens when coasting, not when applying power, unlike a traditional oversteer. More of the car’s weight is over the front, so when the tires break loose, the back end comes loose first. Just a little flick of the wheel back the other way keeps me going straight down the road. I drift through corners all the time with my e-brake too.
Yes, I do, but it’s much easier to avoid it than to try and recover in one. I think many people have issues because they immediately slam the brakes, which is an instinctive way to “stop” a situation, but counter-intuitive to certain recovery methods. Interestingly enough, with the growing addition of stability control, it accounts for this and goes some ways towards making the car more controllable, though is still largely depends on the situation and condition (of both the car and environment).
In all honesty, in the times I’ve gotten into a spin, I’ve actively tried to initiate one. This goes along with my brake and slip testing when I go out into bad weather. Otherwise, I find it pretty difficult to spin cars (mine are RWD), especially if you’re actively paying attention and driving for the conditions (I’ve produced slides, but not 180-360 spins). In most recent memory, I hit a standing puddle of water at night while on the highway, and while that was like tossing an anchor out for one wheel, it still wasn’t enough to produce a spin situation.
(Haven’t hit a car…yet.)