Not everyone seems to realize that the road can get slippery when it starts to rain. Some drivers overcompensate by driving too slowly, and that can put other drivers in danger when they don’t notice soon enough. Driving in the rain doesn’t have to be difficult (it’s much easier than driving in the snow or through a fog), but you need to understand how driving conditions change when it rains and how you should react.
Don’t Trust Your Cruise Control
When it rains, you want to be in full control of your vehicle. Give the cruise control a break when it’s pouring and keep your foot on the accelerator so you are always in control of your vehicle’s speed. When cruise control is on, it can take an extra split second to slow your car down. Also, cruise control tends to speed up as fast as it can when it resumes, which isn’t the best idea on a slippery road.
Don’t Trust Flooded Roads
Civil engineers design roads to channel water into the ditches on either side rather than pool on the pavement. This is because even a light flood can severely damage a road surface and will sometimes completely wash it away. On top of that, flood waters are opaque with dirt, making it impossible to see how deep the water is. Most vehicles can’t handle more than a few inches before floodwaters will damage the undercarriage, or worse, sweep them away. Unless you’re driving something designed for fording, don’t test your luck; instead, find a different route.
Beware of Hydroplaning on Puddles
Even a thin layer of water can be dangerous on the highway. If you’re driving fast enough, your tires will skate across the water like it’s a solid surface, causing your tires to lose traction and spin out. Tires with good treads will stop this from happening (it’s the main reason tires have treads at all), but driving at high speeds, deep puddles, and worn-down treads can all make hydroplaning more likely. If you do skid, slowly press the brakes and try to steer to the side of the road.
React to Bad Visibility
Depending on how bad a storm gets, your visibility radius may be several miles or it might be just a few hundred feet. A hard rain can make it equally hard to see the traffic in front of you, which is why it’s always a good idea to turn on your headlights during a storm even during the day. Aside from that, you should also keep track of your speed and slow down until you feel confident that you can react fast enough to something coming out of the mist.
A rainstorm shouldn’t keep you from going out to work or running errands, but unless you respect and understand how rain makes driving more difficult, you might end up in trouble. So don’t use your cruise control, avoid flooded roads, and keep your tires in good shape.
Image via Pixabay
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