Tips to stay safe in wet-weather driving

Tuesday, 30 April 2019

A few simple safety suggestions for safer driving in wet weather.

Driving can be dangerous even in ideal conditions, but the potential for trouble is so much higher when wet weather closes in - especially at this time of year, when seasons have shifted and dramatic changes in driving conditions can take us by surprise.

Here are some basics that can help you to stay safe on the road when the weather turns. Some are obvious - but it's the obvious things that are often neglected.

Check your air conditioning

Wipers do the outside, but good air con can help you maintain visibility from the inside.

It's natural to think of air-con as a summer thing that keeps us cool on a hot day. And it does.

**READ MORE:

* How to maintain your wiper blades

Even if your wiper blades don't need replacing, give them a good clean.

* What you might not know about tyre tread

* How to steer out of trouble**

Good grooves will help disperse water and give you grip. Use a 20-cent coin to check your tread.

But it's just as important for winter driving, because it demists the windows, ensuring you have good visibility.

Check your windscreen wipers

Well duh, right? But how often do you actually check and clean your windscreen wipers? If they're not sweeping the water away cleanly, your vision will be severely affected when the rain really starts to pour down.

You might need to replace them if they're brittle or cracked. Even if you don't, give them a good clean with soapy water or rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. .

It's not the two-second rule in the wet - it's the four-second rule.

Check your tyres

Make sure your tyres are at the correct pressure and you have enough tread (1.5mm, or enough to cover the bottom of a 20-cent coin when you slot it in).

Sometimes accidents are unavoidable. But there's lots you can do to minimise the risk.

The former will keep your car tracking straight and handling consistently in an emergency situation; the latter will help you maintain traction at all times, because those little grooves help disperse water so that the rubber has something tangible to connect with.

Be wary if it's wet after a dry spell

Oil and other fluids collect on tarmac during dry weather, but when it finally rains the surface can become unexpectedly slippery. Drive with extreme caution when the rain first starts coming down.

Double your following distance

We all know the two-second rule: count 'one thousand and one, one thousand and two' as the car in front passes a static object and if you pass it before you've finished counting, you're too close.

But in difficult driving conditions, you should actually apply the four-second rule to account for reduced visibility and increased stopping distances.

Look out for spray from oncoming traffic, especially trucks. It can blind you for crucial moments.

Assume your car is only handling half as well as it should

On wet roads, everything about the way your car handles is compromised. You probably have a decent idea of how well your car steers and responds.

Anti-lock braking can stop you safely on different surfaces. But do you know if your car has it?

If it's really wet, assume it'll only be half as good. Be super-smooth… pretend the car is not its usual alert self. Because in tricky conditions, it's not.

Think twice about using cruise control

Cruise control is brilliant on long trips or for keeping your speed down in town.

But it can't see potential drama unfolding ahead or a massive puddle in the road; if you're not paying full attention because you've got the cruise on, you might not be able to react to a hazard in time - or rather the car may not be able to respond to your inputs (see above).

Hydroplaning happens when too much water gets in between your tyres and the tarmac.

Really high-end adaptive cruise control systems often deactivate in difficult driving conditions. There's a lesson there.

Be alert to oncoming traffic

If there's a lot of surface water, keep a look out for traffic moving at speed towards you on the other side of the road - especially trucks.

As they come alongside they can spray a huge amount of water straight onto your windscreen and it can take a few moments for vision to clear. If you think that might be about to happen, reduce speed (don't brake suddenly though) and watch the direction of the road carefully.

Know your brakes

If you've got a newer car it'll probably have anti-lock braking. If you have an older car, it might not. Either way, make sure you know.

In an emergency situation where you must stop as quickly as possible on a wet road, you have to know what to do. In an anti-lock-equipped car, you'll need to brake as hard as you can and keep the pressure on - the technology will take care of the rest.

In a car without this technology, pressing too hard will cause the brakes to lock up and you could lose control.

Ideally you need to use 'cadence' braking, where you take the brakes to the point of locking and then gently release, over and over again. That's quite hard to learn and very hard to apply in a panic stop… so drive a car with anti-lock if you can. It's common enough to be a choice rather than an extra expense these days.

Beware of hydroplaning

Hydro-what? Hydroplaning occurs when you hit water too fast and the front wheels of your car lose contact with the road.

When there's a lot of surface water or you see a flooded section looming, slow down so that you retain steering control.

If you do hydroplane, stop accelerating and keep your hands on the wheel - but don't try to steer, as that won't help. You need to know where straight-ahead is when the tyres regain traction, so hold steady.

If your car has been for a wade, give your brakes a gentle test when you're out the other side.

Make sure you belong to a breakdown service

Cars are susceptible to breakdowns in wet weather, as electrics get wet and sometimes fail. It's dangerous to be stuck at the roadside in heavy rain, so make sure you have ready access to a breakdown service and a charged-up mobile phone so you can get help quickly.

If you have broken down, don't adopt the international signal of 'my car's not going' by raising your bonnet. That'll just let more water into the works and make things worse.