Quick. What’s the first thing you should do when your car hits an icy patch and you begin to skid?
We all know the rote, pre-programmed, driver’s manual response. You turn into the skid.
But what does that mean, exactly?
If you’re heading over the edge of an embankment, do you turn even more in that direction, thereby going “into” the skid? Or do you turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction, against the skid, thereby going “into” it that way? And what determines the direction of the skid in the first place? Is it the direction that the front of the car is skidding, or the back of the car?
But even more importantly, do you really have time to try to analyze all these factors when you find yourself on Interstate 70 skidding across two lanes of rush-hour traffic?
I’m happy to say that after nearly 30 years of being a licensed driver, I finally know the answer to the perplexing skid question. And it’s ridiculously simple.
You look in the direction you want to go, and you steer that way. No brakes. No accelerator.
Just calmly look, steer, and slide in the direction of safety.
Now why didn’t they teach us that back in high school driver’s ed?
I learned this useful little nugget of information in a driving class that I wasn’t even enrolled in, a teen driver survival program called MasterDrive that my daughters participated in when they were new drivers.
The teens in MasterDrive spend an intense weekend behind the wheel learning to stop on a dime, back up correctly, do quick lane changes, avoid obstacles, and recover from skids. They practice over and over until their reactions become conditioned and automatic. Both my daughters emerged from the program more competent and confident drivers.
As an added bonus, the parents get a condensed version of the material at the end of the course. That’s where I picked up the little skid recovery gem.
I also learned that the “look in the direction you want to go” trick applies to more than just skids. The instructors told us that our minds instinctively move our bodies in the direction of whatever we happen to be looking at. We can’t help it. It just happens.
So if you’re fixated on a pothole, bridge railing, or a car sliding off the shoulder of the road in front of you, you’re going to move straight into the danger you want to avoid. If you concentrate on the orange cones while you’re driving through a road construction area, you’re going to end up mowing them down.
It seems to contradict logic that you should not look at something in order to avoid hitting it, but it really works.
You should look away from the obstacle or danger, and instead, focus your attention ahead, in the direction you want to go. Your peripheral vision will take care of the obstacle. Look to a safe place, and your steering will follow.
Pretty amazing, isn’t it?
After the class, when my daughters and I were talking about the things we’d learned, I was struck with a new realization. The “look where you want to go” rule applies to life off the road, too.
When we obsess over our problems and dwell on our doubts and fears, we instinctively tend to fulfill our own dire predictions. We run headlong into the very things we’re trying so desperately to avoid.
But if we can learn to focus instead on moving in a positive, forward direction, life’s problems tend to take care of themselves. We usually end up in the place that’s been the focus of our attention.
So the next time you’re faced with an obstacle that’s threatening to take over your field of vision, whether it’s on the freeway or in your personal life, remember that handy little driving rule.
Fix your eyes on the path ahead, looking to where you want to go. Don’t cloud your vision with obstacles. Look beyond the distractions and the dangers, and you’ll find that they fall away, becoming little more than blurs of color out of the corner of your eye. Before you know it, you’re sailing confidently toward your goal.
Tess Riley, a former children’s librarian, is a full-time wife and mother of four. Visit her blog at tessaegg.blogspot.com.
