>> - The correct way to get traction is to turn the wheels as slowly as
>> possible, not spin them at maximum power.
> 
> Yes, that is correct.  Spinning the wheels will generally dig you in 
> deeper.

And yet, the girl we helped had her big, powerful BWM running at maximum 
revs. Perhaps she thinks if she revs it fast enough, eventually it will 
have some effect?

(Logically, if you spin the wheels long enough, you'll dig down to where 
the road is. Unfortunately, you now have to drive up a rather big hill 
to go anywhere...)

Anybody remember Ice Cold in Alex? Didn't they do something weird like 
put the car into 1st gear and turn the starting crank to make the wheels 
turn *really* slowly so it wouldn't disturb the sand?

>> - If your car skids, turn into the direction of the skid.
> 
> Correct, but you have to be careful not to over-correct, lest you hit a 
> dry patch on the road and spin the car.  I did that and ended up in the 
> ditch, once - after doing a 360 in one direction and then a 720 in the 
> opposite.

Well, the incidents I whitnessed today all happened at around 5 MPH or less.

>> - If you skip under braking, ease off the brakes. If you skid under
>> acceleration, reduce power a little.
> 
> Well, brakes tend to be "on or off", if you don't have ABS, pumping the 
> brake pedal generally works well, but also if you can drop to a lower 
> gear, do that.  Don't do anything that would normally cause a fast change 
> in speed because you'll lose control.

So not "OMG, I'm skidding, MAXIMUM BRAKES!!" then?

>> - If you need to go up hill, do it fast so the momentum will carry you
>> over. (I saw lots of people slowing down for the hills in case they
>> skid, or trying to go up a hill from a stationary position.)
> 
> It depends on the hill.  If you go fast and there's a stop sign at the 
> top of the hill, your chances of blowing through the intersection are 
> really good, and there's always a chance when you do that of running into 
> cross traffic if it's not a 4-way stop.

We're talking about hilly country roads that go on for miles without any 
junctions.

> The important thing when driving on ice is to not make any sudden changes 
> - sudden turns, slamming on the brakes, fast acceleration - all of these 
> can cause a loss of control.

And yet, almost every person I observed either immediately slammed on 
the brakes, or started wildly trying to correct the steering.

Jesus, people don't know how to drive in the snow... And this is... 
England?? O_O

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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