If your vehicle begins to skid, you should:
- Ease up on the gas pedal. ✓
- Brake as hard as possible.
- Turn off the ignition.
Answer: A. Ease up on the gas pedal.
When your vehicle starts to skid, ease up on the gas pedal by slowly lifting your foot off the accelerator.
Why this is the answer
The handbook describes a skid as tires losing traction so the vehicle slips and you may lose control. Its listed steps for getting out of a skid begin with slowly taking your foot off the accelerator, then not using the brakes, and turning the steering wheel in the direction of the skid. Releasing the gas is what the manual puts first, so easing up on the gas pedal is the right response.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Brake as hard as possible. — Braking hard is the opposite of the handbook's instruction not to use the brakes during a skid, and hard braking is what the manual blames for locked wheel skids in the first place.
- C. Turn off the ignition. — Nothing in the handbook tells you to shut off the ignition in a skid; the steps are about the accelerator, the brakes, and the steering wheel.
Remember it
Think of the skid steps as a countdown: foot off the gas first, hands steer second, brakes left alone.
Official handbook: California Driver Handbook (DL 600), Section 8: Safe Driving, p. 60