Remember the post Silly Ski Adventure — that me was being drama-queeny about a teeny-weeny minor accident we had.

I met a few friends yesterday for dinner. My friend’s wife — who grew in Connecticut and Illinois — had these tips for driving on ice and how to react if the wheels slip :

1. Drive as slow as you can. A 4-wheel drive only helps you get the car out of hard snow/ice — but once a car slips, it matters less whether it is a 2-wheel drive or a 4-wheel one.

2. Always brake when the wheels are pointing straight and never during turns. This also has some basic physics like area of contact and angle of momentum behind its reasoning.

3. Keep gently hitting the brakes to make sure the brakes are never locked. Unless you have anti-lock brakes, you need to do this.

Now the most important steps after tires slip :

1. Get your damn feet off the brakes. The intuitive reaction is to hit the brakes. You shouldn’t do this because the wheels already have no grip — braking will increase the difference in speed of rotation and the velocity of the vehicle. Ignore the physics mumjo-jumbo, but not the advice.

2. Usually, the car slips either towards the left/right. Follow step 1 till you feel the wheels have made contact with the ground. Once you feel this, turn your wheels gently in the direction of your turn. If your car is slipping towards the left, wait for the wheels to make contact and gently turn left so that you ease the wheels into the turn helping it make further contact.

3. Once you are in complete control, feel free to brake gently.

4. The best way to practise this is in an empty parking lot.

Let me know if the advice saved your life. If it didn’t, we won’t be hearing from you anyway. Namaste.

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