That Squiggly Button on Your Dash: When to Turn Traction Control Off

The squiggly tire-tracks button is traction control — and there's one moment when turning it OFF is the right move.

Brain Frz makes "bite-sized facts, big mind-freezes" — short explainers about the things hiding in plain sight. One of its best is the car button with the squiggly tire tracks on it: traction control. Most drivers have never touched it and have no idea what it does. The video explains it in seconds — and then delivers the twist that matters in winter: there is one situation where the right move is to turn it off.

Watch: Most Drivers Don't Know What This Button Does!

What to take from it

• Traction control stops wheel spin. On slick roads it brakes a spinning wheel and cuts power to keep you from sliding. Most of the time, leave it on — it is a quiet lifesaver.
• Turn it off when you are stuck. In deep snow or mud, you need the wheels to spin freely to rock the car out. Traction control fights that — switch it off, get out, switch it back on.
• Know the button before you need it. Find it on your own dashboard today, so you are not hunting for it in a snowbank at night.

Follow Brain Frz (@brain.frz) on TikTok for more.

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