VIDEO: Out for a (Dangerous) Spin

The pavement was wet. The speeds were high. The road was littered with obstacles.

It was a perfect day for driving.

But only because the students were taking a class at the "Skid School,'' the formal name for the Driver Skills Development Program, located at the Central Mass Safety Council Auto School in West Boylston.

For the past few years, students in the Students Against Destructive Decisions program at Grafton High School have gone through the program. The students attend training sessions about safe driving. Then they hit the road.

With a certified driving instructor beside them, the students maneuvered the vehicle between safety cones and on slick roads, wet by an automatic sprinkler system.

They learn to anticipate possible driving hazards. With practice, SADD advisor Maureen Cimoch and school resource officer Al Hulbert explain, the students might remember what to do if they face these same issues in a real-life situation.

That can help avoid panic, which can worsen the situation, instructor Brian Tokarz said.

A key to driving through a skid is to do something that seems counterintuitive: Pick your feet off the pedals.

"No gas, no brake, until you have control'' of the vehicle, Tokarz said. "That's big, big, big.''

And it can be challenging to learn, he said. The natural instinct is to hit the brakes, he said.

But by doing that, "you're accelerating into that skid.''