Driving can feel intimidating under optimal conditions even for experienced drivers. However, wet weather adds additional concerns and anxieties, especially for new drivers unsure of how to prevent or react to hazards. Potential challenges include visibility problems, loss of traction, and collisions with other vehicles.
Fortunately, you can minimize your risks on the road when you adopt some smart driving and car care strategies. Here are some tips to help you drive through wet weather safely and confidently.
Keep Your Car in Good Shape
The first step to ensure your safety in wet weather should take the form of preventative maintenance. Schedule periodic inspections and fix any defects in your car's safety features as needed. Uneven tire tread, weak brakes, or malfunctioning windshield wipers make wet-weather driving needlessly risky.
Don't forget to keep an eye on the state of your headlights, hazard lights, indicator lights, and taillights. In heavy rain or fog, these lights may give other drivers their only warning of your vehicle's position and proximity. Steer clear of other drivers whose cars appear to lack functional lights in wet weather or low-visibility conditions.
Maintain Safe Speeds and Distances
Wet roads typically rob vehicles of about one-third of their normal tire traction. To compensate for this safety challenge, make a habit of driving at only two-thirds of the speeds you would normally assume. For example, you might opt to go 40 miles per hour in a 55 mile-per-hour zone until road conditions improve.
Slick roads also affect braking ability, which causes vehicles to take longer than usual to come to a stop. As a result, the normal safe 3 to 4 seconds of distance you maintain between your car and the car in front of you may suddenly prove insufficient and result in a collision.
Allow one extra second of distance for each new road hazard that you have to address. For instance, give yourself a full five seconds of distance between your car and the car in front of you in wet conditions. If you also have to drive at night, extend that distance to six seconds.
You can calculate the distance between vehicles simply by watching the vehicle in front of you pass a particular object and then counting the seconds before you pass that object yourself. At the same time, try to avoid getting trapped within a tight cluster of surrounding vehicles in adjacent lanes.
React to Skids the Right Way
A layer of water on the road can reduce tire traction to the point that tires essentially drift along the surface of the water, a problem known as hydroplaning. When you hydroplane, your car can easily go into an uncontrolled skid and potentially lead to a collision.
How you should react to a skid partly depends on what kind of braking system your vehicle has. If you drive an old car with rear-wheel drive, you may have traditional power brakes. If you go into a skid, turn into the skid until you regain control, and then turn out of the skid to correct your orientation.
Most cars on the road today come equipped with anti-lock brakes. In an anti-lock brake system (ABS), sensors that detect a potential skid or wheel lockup reduce hydraulic pressure to the wheel or wheels in danger of skidding or locking up. This system requires a different strategy to react to a skid once it occurs.
If your ABS cannot prevent you from entering a skid, don't slam on the brakes or try to drive into the skid. Instead, take your foot off of the accelerator, keep a firm grip on the wheel, and direct your gaze toward where you want the car to go. You will then naturally steer the car in a way that corrects for the skid.
Whether you have yet to get behind the wheel of a car or you just want to brush up your skills in all kinds of driving conditions, Taggart's Driving School can help.
Contact us today to learn more about our driver's education options.
