Split friction
Split friction is when the grip differs a lot between the left and right wheel paths on a road. It may feel fine during normal driving, but in hard braking the car can rotate toward the side with higher grip. This can cause jackknifing in articulated trucks or trailer swing in trucks with trailers. It’s often caused by patchy road repairs that create patches with different texture and color, or ice that thaws differently on new patches than on old asphalt. You can assess the risk with a road profilograph that scans both wheel paths; for a full analysis you need a device that measures friction on both tracks at the same time, such as the ViaFriction skid device.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:55 (CET).