• Check your vehicle’s mirrors and start the
left lane change signal before moving out
of the right lane to pass. When you are
far enough ahead of the passed vehicle to
see its front in your vehicle’s passenger
side outside mirror, activate the right lane
change signal and move back into the
right lane. Remember that an outside convex
mirror makes the vehicle you just passed
seem farther away from you than it really is.
• Try not to pass more than one vehicle
at a time on two-lane roads. Reconsider
before passing the next vehicle.
• Do not overtake a slowly moving vehicle too
rapidly. Even though the brake lamps are
not flashing, it might be slowing down
or starting to turn.
• If you are being passed, make it easy for the
following driver to get ahead of you. Perhaps
you can ease a little to the right.
Loss of Control
Let us review what driving experts say about what
happens when the three control systems — brakes,
steering, and acceleration — do not have enough
friction where the tires meet the road to do what the
driver has asked.
In any emergency, do not give up. Keep trying to
steer and constantly seek an escape route or
area of less danger.
Skidding
In a skid, a driver can lose control of the vehicle.
Defensive drivers avoid most skids by taking
reasonable care suited to existing conditions,
and by not overdriving those conditions.
But skids are always possible.
The three types of skids correspond to your
vehicle’s three control systems. In the braking
skid, the wheels are not rolling. In the steering or
cornering skid, too much speed or steering in
a curve causes tires to slip and lose cornering
force. And in the acceleration skid, too much
throttle causes the driving wheels to spin.
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