Emergency 5: Running off the Road
About a quarter of fatal crashes are single-vehicle accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Of those, about 70 percent happen when drivers run two wheels off the pavementand, in a panic, over-correct. This causes the vehicle to spin off the highway and flip, or dart into oncoming traffic. The sad part is that almost all of these accidents could be avoided if the driver just kept calm and drove on.
If you find yourself with two wheels off the road, release the accelerator, keep the steering wheel straight, allow the vehicle to slow on its own and smoothly steer back on the road. If you do it properly, passengers won't even notice your hands moving. It's best to stay away from the brake pedal, but it's OK to use ABS if all four wheels are about to go off the roadway or you're about to hit something harder than a country mailbox. Be sure to center the wheel before you release the brake.
by Mac Demere, Contributor at Edmunds.com
