Slick Roads

Yesterday morning I almost wrecked my car. I was driving in about 4 - 5 inches of wet snow when the car went into a skid. It happened so fast I had no warning, and I just had to react. I first tried stepping on the gas to let the front wheel drive pull it out of the skid, but it was too slick for the studs on the front wheels to grab. So, I steered in the direction of the skid and took my foot off the gas. I tapped the brakes lightly and rode it out. I was all over the road for about 200 yards, at one point I was nearly crosswise of the road. I finally got it under control and decided that I didn't need to go where I was heading. I turned around and went home, carefully. I used to wonder how people slid off the road in snowy weather. Now I know. I was only going about 40 mph, but that was obviously too fast. That is as close as I have ever been to wrecking a car. The same thing happened to my wife about 8 years ago, but she was passing a truck and I was in the passenger seat. That was really hairy, those truck lug nuts look very scary when you're staring them in the face. She did a great job of getting in under control without scratching any paint, but she was really shook for a while. I guess the lesson is, slow down and live...