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Turn into direction of a skid Can you clear up for me the corrective procedure one uses in an emergency on an icy road? If the front of the car is spinning from right to left, do you turn the steering wheel clockwise or counterclockwise? -- George F., Medford Forget all this clockwise stuff, George. This is the digital age. Who's got time to think about which way the clock hands turn when you're sliding toward a tree? Officer Rob Havice of the Medford Police Department says the first thing you should do on icy roads is slow down to reduce the chance of going into a skid. Havice teaches "emergency vehicle operations" to other Medford officers. If you skid, he advises you to take your foot off the gas, gently turn your steering wheel back toward the neutral position and avoid panic braking. For example, if you were going into a right-hand curve and your left-rear started to come around in a skid, you would take your foot off the gas and gently turn the steering wheel to the left toward the neutral (straight ahead) position. This is what is sometimes called "steering into the skid." Don't stab the brakes, and don't crank the wheel harder in the direction you want to go. Havice says both will just get you into deeper trouble, even though they're instinctive responses. "Brakes will get you into trouble on ice quicker than anything," Havice says. When you feel the wheels start rolling again instead of sliding, you can resume your turn. "Do everything smoothly," says Havice, who studied emergency driving techniques at Portland International Raceway to qualify as an instructor. He suggests the best thing you can do on bad roads is drive slower. "The key to all of this in adverse conditions is to slow it down," he says. "All speed does is limit the time you have to correct. Speed just magnifies your problems." Send your questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; or by fax to (541) 776-4376; or by e-mail to: [email protected] Please include your name, address and phone number for verification.) Today's News Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA