When you suddenly find yourself traveling down a steep grassy slope to avoid an accident.

Apexcarver said:

So I've gone two off to avoid a deer. Well, I got sucked in, hit a boulder, and got spat back into the road on my roof. Bruised both knees badly and was laid up for a few weeks. 0/10, would not recommend. 

In all cases for deer, ram the MFer. I would have been way way better off. 

 

Additionally, for trucks and SUVs, the worst accidents are rollovers. Especially if they predate the most recent update to rollover standards (I wanna say 2018? I'd have to check). 

If there's little option of you or the deer. The deer loses. Plus your insurance company treats that as not your fault. You miss deer and go off causing damage? That's on you.

Moose on the other hand? Stop. Stop now.

Don't choose leaving the road

I would argue that if you find yourself heading down a steep grassy slope, you are not avoiding an accident. You are having one. 

Keith Tanner said:

I would argue that if you find yourself heading down a steep grassy slope, you are not avoiding an accident. You are having one. 

I am reminded of this image:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Yup.

Maldonado suffered so many crashes， It's shocking he has kept his superlicense.

When you know you screwed up and aim for the gravel trap, but only make it to the grass:  https://youtu.be/GY6osoboLoE

Thus ended my brief BMW M3 ownership (though I did fix the car).

I once breifly dozed off on a freeway while driving a minivan and woke up veering in a V-shaped grassy median.  A bit of gradual steering - and an insane amount of luck - got the van back into its lane instead of the oncoming side.

An FIA approved cage is what you want.

If there is nothing to hit, stay on the throttle enough to maintain control.  If you have the room and feel safe doing it, increase speed and carefully steer back up the hill.

Went off the side of a icy off ramp in a G3500. Kept it straight down the slope then hammered the gas up the other side. Got the back end around (thank you posi traction) and went back down the slope and up on to the ramp. 

M2Pilot said:

Keith Tanner said:

stuart in mn said:

My experience at going off the road at speed onto a grassy surface (on the level however, not downhill) was that the friction coefficient of the grass was essentially zero.    You're just along for the ride at that point, and any steering or braking inputs will be useless.

I think the coefficient of friction of grass is actually negative.

Wait 'til you try wet grass. I went off at VIR once after a rainy night. I suppose it's physically impossible to accelerate with both feet in but the car certainly seemed to be going faster on the wet grass than it was on the pavement.

This is why people whine about being first car out at a rallycross.  Dewy grass is... not grippy.

MadScientistMatt said:

I once breifly dozed off on a freeway while driving a minivan and woke up veering in a V-shaped grassy median.  A bit of gradual steering - and an insane amount of luck - got the van back into its lane instead of the oncoming side.

A former coworker did that a few years ago, only he went off the shoulder.  And there were trees at the bottom.  He hit one of them.  Let's just say it did not end well. Not at all. 

Just keep the wheels pointed in the direction you're going so you can claim you "meant to do that".

In reply to Definitely gone now :

That's not how to avoid an accident, it's how you get into a single car accident instead. Crumple zone against crumple zone is often better than crumple zone against non crumple zone or barrel roll. 

I often think about just this question while driving... what if? what would I do if? I have seen the after math of people trying to "save it" when they go off in the grass at the track and most time it does not end well. The few times I have taken a ride off course in the grass I tried to stay off until I could regain some semblance of control and return to track/road safely. I imagine I would do the same for a grassy slope. Stay the course down the bank, try to gain control to make an attempt to get back on the road. 

In reply to LopRacer :

My son got pushed of the road in my Outback (gravel shoulders here in the west are nearly as slippery as grass) and afterward he said "I now know why you always say keep the car going straight". Once it the car starts spinning you're a passenger.

In reply to LopRacer :

You've got it.  When you suddenly transition to a much lower grip surface, there's some delay before you have maneuvering ability, as you need to bleed off some speed first. 

In reply to M2Pilot :

Can confirm. Went off going up the esses in the early evening when the temperature started to cool. Combine that with the usual August humidity in VIR and it felt like I was on ice. I ended up sliding, backward, with all 4 wheels locked to within 10 ft of the tires. I was lucky to have caught a shallow groove that changed my trajectory enough to be parallel with the tires rather than perpendicular. I've often wondered if I had let off the brakes if there would have been enough friction to turn the car around and provide just enough traction to slightly steer away from the tires.