Stopping at an icy intersection

Beavertail
Sat, 20 Nov 2010 19:31:09 +0000
General Discussion

One day last winter while approaching a very icy intersection on a slight downhill grade - it was a four-way stop - I started to brake and, as expected, the ABS came on immediately. Nevertheless, my front-wheel drive Volvo, with winter-tread tires, slid through the intersection. I was, thank heavens, the only car around. My question is, since I was in Drive on my AT selector, would it have been better to have put the car in Neutral thus taking even the idling power away from the front wheels? Changing the car to a lower gear would not have worked as the transmission had not even shifted to a higher gear since I was going so slowly in any case having just left my house not far from the intersection. I am a former sailor but I don’t carry an anchor in my car that I could have thrown out the back!

14 posts - 9 participants