Skids, blowouts, brake trouble, a vehicle that stops working and a collision you have to deal with. Rare events with correct answers, which is exactly why they are on the test.
About 8 minutes to read6 British Columbia questions on this1 diagramLast reviewed 2026-08-27
Worth remembering
In any emergency: hands on the wheel, ease off, look where you want to go, steer smoothly.
A skid means grip has run out. Undo what caused it, then steer gently toward where you want to be.
With anti lock brakes, press firmly and keep steering; the shuddering pedal is the system working.
Blowout: hold the wheel, do not brake hard, let the speed fall, then pull off the road.
Brake failure: pump the pedal, gear down, use the parking brake gradually, and look for a place to run out of speed.
Never switch off the engine while moving; the steering can lock and the assistance is lost.
Breaking down: get clear of the traffic lane, hazard lights on, and choose a spot visible from a distance.
After a collision: stop, help anyone injured, make the scene safe, exchange details, and report as your province requires.
The rule behind all of them
Emergencies share a shape. Something changes suddenly, the instinct that arrives first is usually wrong, and the correct action is small, smooth and immediate. Slamming a control, whipping the wheel or freezing are the three failures. In almost every case the right response is to keep both hands on the wheel, ease off the accelerator rather than stamping on the brake, look at the space you want to reach rather than at the thing you are afraid of, and steer there.
Looking where you want to go is not a slogan. Your hands follow your eyes without being asked, which is why a driver who stares at the pole hits the pole. Practising the habit in ordinary driving, by looking well ahead through curves and into the gaps rather than at the obstacles, is what makes it available when there is no time to think.
Skids
A skid means the tires have run out of grip, and grip runs out for one of three reasons: braking too hard, accelerating too hard, or steering too sharply for the surface. Since the cause is nearly always something the driver did, the first response is to undo it. Ease off whatever you were doing, whether that is the brake or the accelerator, and give the tires a chance to grip again.
Then steer. If the back of the car has slid out, look where you want the car to go and steer gently in that direction, which means turning into the skid rather than against it. Be ready for the back to come back the other way and to correct again, more gently than the first time. Sudden inputs turn one skid into a worse one.
Braking depends on the vehicle. Nearly all modern cars have anti lock brakes, which allow you to press firmly and keep steering while the system pulses the brakes for you; the pedal will shudder and buzz under your foot, and that is the system working, not a fault. In an older vehicle without the system, the technique is to squeeze the brake short of locking the wheels, easing off if they lock so that the front wheels can steer again. Either way, the way to avoid needing any of this is speed and space suited to the surface.
Recovering a rear wheel skid
Your vehicle
Where it goes
Come off the throttle and the brake, look at the space you want, and steer the front wheels toward it.
When something on the vehicle fails
A tire that blows out feels like the car being pulled hard to one side, often with a loud bang. Hold the wheel firmly with both hands, do not brake hard, and let the vehicle slow on its own while you steer straight. Once the speed is down and you have control, signal, move gently onto the shoulder and stop well clear of the traffic lane. Braking hard on a blown tire is what turns a repair into a spin.
If the brakes feel soft or go to the floor, pump the pedal to try to build pressure, downshift or select a lower gear to let the engine slow the car, and apply the parking brake gradually rather than yanking it on, since a sudden parking brake can lock the rear wheels. At the same time, look for somewhere to run out of speed: an uphill slope, an empty shoulder, a stretch of open ground. Use the horn and the hazard lights to warn everyone around you.
If the accelerator sticks, shift to neutral, brake to a stop and turn the engine off once you are stopped, not while you are still moving, because switching off can lock the steering and kill the power assistance. If the engine dies while you are moving, expect the steering and brakes to become much heavier, keep hold of the wheel, and steer to the side of the road. If the headlights fail at night, try the high beams, the hazard lights and the signals to get any light at all, and pull over as soon as you safely can.
A pull off bay with the hazard lights on. Getting the vehicle to somewhere like this is the first thing the law asks of you.
Stopping at the roadside
If you have to stop because of a breakdown, the aim is to get the vehicle as far away from moving traffic as you can. Signal, slow gradually, and take the shoulder or a side road or a parking area, choosing a spot where you are visible from a distance rather than just past a crest or around a bend. Turn on the hazard lights, and in daylight and darkness alike, leave the vehicle where approaching drivers can see it early.
Whether to stay in the car depends on where you are. On a busy highway, the safest place is usually out of the vehicle and behind a barrier, away from the traffic side, because a stopped vehicle on a shoulder is at risk of being struck. Where there is no safe space to stand and the weather is severe, staying belted inside with the hazard lights on is often the better choice. In a Canadian winter, that judgement also has to include the cold, which is the argument for carrying a blanket, warm clothes, a shovel and a charged phone from the first snow to the last.
Call for help rather than attempting a repair in a live lane. If you change a tire yourself, do it only on firm level ground on the side away from traffic, with the vehicle in park or in gear and the parking brake on. Never get under a vehicle held up by a jack.
If you are in a collision
Stop. Leaving the scene of a collision is a serious offence everywhere in Canada, however minor the damage looks. Check whether anyone is hurt and call for emergency help if they are, or if any vehicle cannot be driven, or if the situation is blocking traffic dangerously. Do not move a seriously injured person unless leaving them where they are puts them in more danger.
Make the scene safe. Hazard lights on, and if the vehicles can be driven and nobody is hurt, moving them out of the traffic lane is usually the right call, because a second collision into the first one is a real risk. Then exchange information with the other driver: names, addresses, licence details, plate numbers, and insurance company and policy details. Note the time, the place and the conditions, take photographs if you can, and get contact details for any witness.
Reporting duties are provincial. Every province requires a collision to be reported when someone is injured or when the damage passes a set amount, and some require reporting through a collision reporting centre within a set time. The threshold, the deadline and the place to report are all provincial figures, so look them up on your province page and keep them with your insurance papers rather than trying to remember them at the roadside.
What British Columbia does differently
Everything above holds across Canada. This part does not, and it is the part a British Columbia examiner can ask about.
British Columbia rule
Stopped vehicles, and breaking down away from town
Passing a stopped vehicle with flashing lights means slowing to the reduced speed the province sets for that situation, and on a road with more than one lane in your direction, moving over if the move is safe. The rule covers police, fire and ambulance, and it also covers tow trucks, maintenance vehicles and utility crews showing amber lights. The reduced speed appears on signs and is published by the province, so learn the sign rather than a number from memory.
Breaking down outside a city needs a different plan here than on flat open country. Shoulders on mountain highways are narrow and sometimes missing, sight lines around a curve are short, and a car stopped just past a bend stays invisible until it is close. Get as far right as the shoulder allows, or reach the next pull out if the vehicle will still move. Put the hazard lights on. Then stand off the road on the uphill side, not between your car and the traffic.
Mobile coverage disappears on long stretches of the interior and the north. Tell somebody your route before a winter trip, carry a blanket, water and a charged phone, and keep enough fuel to idle for warmth if you are stopped for hours. When a storm closes a road around you, staying with the vehicle is usually safer than walking for help.
Where people get this wrong
What people think
In a skid you steer against the slide to straighten out.
What is actually true
You steer toward where you want the car to go, which is into the direction the back has slid. Ease off first, and keep every movement gentle so you do not start a second skid.
What people think
The brake pedal is shuddering, so the brakes are broken.
What is actually true
That pulsing is the anti lock system working. Keep firm pressure on the pedal and steer; releasing it because it feels wrong throws away the one thing helping you.
What people think
Brake hard the moment a tire blows.
What is actually true
Hard braking on a blown tire unbalances the car and can spin it. Hold the wheel, keep it straight, let the speed come down, then pull off.
What people think
The damage was small, so we can sort it out without reporting anything.
What is actually true
Every province requires a report when anyone is injured or when damage passes a set amount, and some require it at a collision reporting centre within a deadline. Check the figures for your province in advance.
What people think
Staying in the car on the shoulder is always safest.
What is actually true
On a busy highway a stopped vehicle can be struck, so being behind a barrier away from the traffic side is often safer. Weather, location and how much room you have all change the answer.
Check yourself
Three questions from the British Columbia bank on emergencies and breakdowns. Answer them in your head first, then open the answer to see the rule it comes from.
Emergencies and breakdowns1 of 3
The back of your car steps out to the right as you go through a bend on a wet road.
ABrake hard and hold the wheel straight
BFix your eyes on the ditch you are trying to miss and steer away from it
CEase off the accelerator, look where you want the car to go, and steer that way
DPull the parking brake to slow the rear wheels
Show the answer
The answer is C. Ease off the accelerator, look where you want the car to go, and steer that way
A skid ends when the tires start rolling in the direction the car is travelling again, so the first move is to remove whatever caused it, usually throttle or hard braking. Your hands follow your eyes, which is why you look at the way out of the corner and not at the obstacle. Keep the corrections small and smooth, and unwind the steering as grip returns.
Motor Vehicle Act (British Columbia)
Emergencies and breakdowns2 of 3
Partway down a long mountain descent your brake pedal goes soft and the car is not slowing.
APump the pedal, shift down so the engine holds the car, ease the parking brake on, and look for a runaway lane
BSwitch the engine off so the car stops sooner
CShift straight into park
DSteer into the rock face on your right
Show the answer
The answer is A. Pump the pedal, shift down so the engine holds the car, ease the parking brake on, and look for a runaway lane
Brakes usually fade on a descent because they have been held on and cooked, and pumping the pedal can build some pressure back. A lower gear does the work the brakes cannot, and the parking brake adds a little more when it is eased on rather than yanked. Switching the engine off takes away the power steering and can lock the steering column.
Motor Vehicle Act (British Columbia)
Emergencies and breakdowns3 of 3
A front tire blows out at highway speed and the car pulls hard to one side.
ABrake as hard as you can straight away
BSteer sharply the other way to cancel the pull
CTake your hands off the wheel and let the car settle itself
DHold the wheel firmly, ease off the gas, keep it straight, and slow gently onto the shoulder
Show the answer
The answer is D. Hold the wheel firmly, ease off the gas, keep it straight, and slow gently onto the shoulder
A blown tire is already dragging the car sideways, and hard braking or a sharp steering input adds a second force that can spin it. Holding a straight line while the speed bleeds off keeps the car predictable. Signal, get well off the road, and change the wheel only where you can do it away from traffic.
Motor Vehicle Act (British Columbia)
Now go and answer some questions
The British Columbia bank holds 6 questions on emergencies and breakdowns. Answering them now, while the lesson is fresh, is how you find the parts that only felt clear.
