I have never been in the situation, and hope I never am. But I was just supposing what I would do if I suddenly had to dart off of the road at high speed to avoid something. Let's suppose the side of the road is a long grassy hill. Steep enough, but not a sheer drop. I had two thoughts: my natural reaction would be to countersteer as I slide down the hill, in hopes of "Saving it".
but then I got to thinking, if I do that the wheels might dig in on the incline and cause a rollover.
so my next thought would be to steer with the slide in hopes of getting the back end headed in the direction of flow. Hopefully preventing a rollover, and, instead, only receiving rear end damage if I hit something.
has anybody been in this predicament? Just trying to mentally prepare myself for situations.
I haven't done it at speed, but I'd say unless the hill is so steep that you have to worry about pitchpoling, keep the nose pointed downhill and sort things out when you can slow down enough to deal with it unless that points you into worse danger. Sliding down the hill sideways at speed is a recipe for disaster.
down right 4 dips keep in over crest 80
In reply to fidelity101 :
"Don't cut..."
I've been playing dirt2 recently, I can relate!
I am pretty certain rally drivers run into this situation, I would follow their example.
rslifkin said:
I haven't done it at speed, but I'd say unless the hill is so steep that you have to worry about pitchpoling, keep the nose pointed downhill and sort things out when you can slow down enough to deal with it unless that points you into worse danger. Sliding down the hill sideways at speed is a recipe for disaster.
This, countersteer for sure, if it's a FWD or 4WD vehicle it's even worth hitting the gas to pull the vehicle straight.
One time in an offroad rally I drove my Samurai over the edge of an unexpectedly steep incline and the front wheels were touching the incline while the rears were in the air, if I'd touched the brakes at that moment it might've tumbled end over end, so I hit the gas to pull it down onto the incline. Picked up a lot of speed and then sent it into a high-speed powerslide at the bottom, also had a 1st-time navigator with me who screamed and covered his eyes while this was happening, 10/10 would do again 
Mr_Asa said:
Bail.
My cousin chose this option in an offroad rally once - he was navigating, the truck started to slide down a steep incline it was stopped on, he hopped out and grabbed a conveniently located tree
I haven't got myself into any scary sideways-on-a-steep-incline situations that I can recall, but I did nearly slide straight down a very slippery incline once. I tried to use the brakes to stop the Samurai but it kept sliding, I was about to start a reverse burn to arrest the slide when it finally came to a stop.
SV reX
MegaDork
3/3/22 2:40 p.m.
Mr_Asa said:
Bail.
That's a terrible idea.
You're gonna leave a shell designed to survive rollovers which you are securely belted into, and assume you can jump clear while the vehicle is in motion tumbling down a hill?
That's exactly the opposite of what all heavy equipment training would say.
Define steep. I'm assuming you mean the typical ones that are around 30 degrees.
I've been faced with the choice of a collision or driving down a slope twice both in my Miata. Both times someone pulled over on me with no warning.
The first one was one of the steep ones; a full size pick up mover over on me, I had the choice of being punted off the road or driving off. For the first 10 feet or so I stayed on the gas and got the car pointed downhill in an effort to prevent a roll over. After that I maintained a 45 degree angle in an effort to slow down as much as possible and to keep from slamming into the bottom. I was able to travel far enough to get the car slowed down enough to traverse off the banking at a relatively low speed and optimal angle.
The second one was about a 10-15 degree angle with a drainage channel at the bottom. The driver pulled across the "triangle" from a blind on ramp. The choice was slam into the back of them at 65 or dart to the right. This one was stay on the throttle and lots of opposite lock to get it back up on the road. I was giving a coworker a lift home, the poor guy was white as a sheet and couldn't believe we didn't crash. He did make me a driving legend around the office so there is that but clearly I could have done without the excitement.
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.
In reply to Tom1200 :
As always Tom, good info and experience!
SV reX said:
Mr_Asa said:
Bail.
That's a terrible idea.
You're gonna leave a shell designed to survive rollovers which you are securely belted into, and assume you can jump clear while the vehicle is in motion tumbling down a hill?
That's exactly the opposite of what all heavy equipment training would say.
Yeah. Maybe if you were in a jet fighter and the steep grassy slope was right next to the runway and you had an ejection seat. Other than that, stay in.
Red button on the top of the shifter knob of your DB5.
In reply to stroker :
Note to self, acquire DB5.
In reply to SV reX :
My passenger for sure; I was busy in the moment.
I drove straight over the top of the turn 1 banking at Citrus County Speedway in Inverness Fl. The alternative was T boning my car owner who was barrel rolling his other car
After cresting the bank I had a steep grassy bank that I drove straight down, maintaining enough momentum to get turned on the flat and drive back up to re-enter the track at the exit of turn 2, with pavement slicks, so I could get pushed off again after the red flag was over. No clutch in a TQ midget. I had never looked outside 1 & 2, it was a rapid decision sequence that worked OK. Three & 4 has a wall, there would have been no decision there.
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.
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.
So I may know someone who may have allegedly ridden their motorcycle on a golf course. It was the most bitchin foot up slides I've ever done.......er I mean alegedly done by the person who I may or may not know.
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).
Mndsm
MegaDork
3/3/22 7:23 p.m.
I've done it. It's scary. I definitely didn't want to steer into it. I basically rode it out headed straight down.
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.
