It's a wet weekend: how to stay safe in driving rain

Friday, 31 May 2019

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

We're having a really wet weekend to get winter started; but it won't be the last.

Here are a few tips to help you handle driving rain and keep your safe on slippery roads.

Heavy rain

When there's water everywhere the world can seems dangerously surreal from the driver's seat.

Heavy rain will affect your visibility, so take it slow. We all know the two-second rule for following distances, but in wet weather you should at least double it to four seconds. Remember, wait until the car ahead has passed a stationary object and then count 'one thousand and one, one thousand and two…'.

**READ MORE:

Double your following distance in the rain.

* Silly question #36: how do I stop my wipers squeaking?

* Tips to stay safe in wet-weather driving

When a car aquaplanes, the tyres lose contact with the road.

* Winter driving: 10 tips for driving this winter**

You shouldn't pass that same object until you've reached number four.

Your windscreen should be clean, wipers effective and the jets positioned correctly and aimed at the screen. Check all of that before you start your journey.

Our first wet winter weekend for 2019, but it won't be the last.

If you need windscreen wipers, then you need your headlights. Automatic light settings will not always activate in bad weather conditions, so it is up to you to make a sensible decision as to whether these need to be turned on.

Aquaplaning

Splashing cyclists and pedestrians is only funny in movies.

If the water is standing in puddles on the road surface, your car is at risk of aquaplaning.

Aquaplaning is where a wedge of water forms in front of the tyre and lifts it up off the road surface. This is caused by the tread not being able to displace the amount of water present.

To recover from aquaplaning, ease gently off your accelerator, have a firm grip of the steering wheel and be sure not to make any sudden steering actions. The car will eventually regain its grip as the water clears.

Floods

It sounds extreme, but in really wet weather a flood can happen very quickly - perhaps from the sheer volume of rain, but also from a burst water main.

If you are familiar with the road, you can judge the flood in relation to the kerb.

If heavy rain was not the cause of the flood, then what was? And what impact on the road does it have? The standing water may look like a normal flood but the road surface beneath the water may be completely broken up. If you are unsure how the flood has formed, then avoid it altogether.

If you have taken everything into consideration and decide to drive through standing water, be sure to do so slowly.

Drive as if you are doing a hill start, keeping the engine revs ticking over. This will prevent water from entering your exhaust. If you are in an automatic car, accelerate slightly but control the speed with your brakes.

Watch for spray form oncoming trucks; it can momentarily blind you.

When you have passed the flood, test your brakes to make sure they are dry and working properly.

Remember to stay alert and avoid splashing pedestrians. That's only funny in television and movies.

Does your car have anti-lock brakes? It's important to know how to use them.

Corners

On wet roads, your car's handling is compromised. 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. So think carefully about using it in really wet conditions.

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.

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 leave the bonnet up. That'll just let more water into the works.