Brush up on your driving reflexes with the basics in emergency manoeuvres

We encourage you to take a course with a trained instructor and ask him or her to run you through some standard emergency manoeuvres. Ask your instructor to take you to a deserted road or an empty parking lot so that you can practise in the safest environment possible.

In the meantime, we'd like to run you through some of the procedures you'll probably be trying out.

Know your vehicle

The first step is to know the limits of your vehicle - handling, braking, hard turns, etc. The more familiar you become with your vehicle, the more confidence you'll have, and the better you'll be able to avoid accidents.

Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and that there is plenty of room for each manoeuvre. Please use your own good judgment to make sure conditions are safe for each manoeuvre and again, please don't attempt them without an experienced instructor accompanying you.

The panic stop

Your instructor will probably have you stop your vehicle at any given spot while going about 50 km/h. If you find your vehicle skidding sideways, releasing the brakes and then immediately reapplying them will help straighten out your vehicle. Notice how you quickly you regain steering control.

If you pump your brakes, especially on a slippery road, you maintain steering control while stopping in the shortest distance. That's the principle behind anti-lock brakes. If your vehicle has anti-lock brakes, then the proper procedure is to stand on the brakes and let the anti-lock system do the pumping for you.

The controlled swerve

The best way to avoid many accidents is to steer around an obstacle. Even if you think you have enough room to stop, the person behind you may not react as fast and may rear-end your vehicle.

And jerking the wheel toward the desired direction is not the safest way to swerve - for the same reasons as suddenly braking. The proper procedure is to try steering your vehicle in a swift but controlled manner and rolling the wheel the other way to straighten back out once you're out of the path of the obstacle. Again, if you do this too fast or use your brakes before you straighten out, your vehicle may start to spin.

The emergency brake

Your vehicle's brakes are pressurized by a running engine. If ever that pressure isn't there (for reasons such as loss of brake fluid, engine failure or broken brake line), you'll have a really hard time pushing on the pedal to stop. Always remember that you have an emergency brake (also called parking brake) that you can activate in an emergency. Trying a controlled emergency brake stop will allow you to see how your vehicle reacts. Again, apply firmly but smoothly to prevent a loss of control.

Always in control

Remember, by practising these emergency manoeuvres, you'll less likely be caught off-guard by your car's handling ability in the event of a real emergency. Your training will also allow you to always be observant and mindful of your surroundings, to avoid panicking on the road, and to see things 'in slow motion' in order to properly react in a split second.