If you need to slow down while driving on a slippery road, the first thing you should do is:
- Firmly apply your brakes.
- Take your foot off the gas pedal. ✓
- Apply your parking brake.
- Pump your brakes.
Answer: B. Take your foot off the gas pedal.
Take your foot off the gas pedal first, letting the car slow down before you use the brakes.
Why this is the answer
The Texas handbook's skid section says tires lose their grip when the road surface is slick, and the first step it gives is to avoid hitting the brakes suddenly and hard and instead lift your foot off the accelerator. It then tells you to steer in the direction of the skid and gently straighten the wheels once you have control. The same idea appears in the off-pavement and flat-tire sections: come off the gas, then use the brakes carefully.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Firmly apply your brakes. — The handbook warns against hitting the brakes suddenly and hard, because that is exactly the kind of move that costs you grip on a slick surface.
- C. Apply your parking brake. — The passages never tell you to use the parking brake to slow down, and nothing in them suggests it as a first step on a slippery road.
- D. Pump your brakes. — Pumping the brakes is not mentioned anywhere in these passages; the guidance is to release the accelerator first and brake gently afterward.
Remember it
Gas off first, brakes later — your foot leaves the accelerator before it touches the brake.