Great video with some important reminders and tips for handling less than ideal driving situations, like fog, rain, and dust storms.
Great video with some important reminders and tips for handling less than ideal driving situations, like fog, rain, and dust storms.
Driving in the rain can be difficult for almost every driver. In fact, the FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) states that “the vast majority of most weather-related crashes happen on wet pavement and during rainfall.”
Some things you can do to avoid a potential weather-related crash are:
If you still don’t feel safe about driving in the rain, then postpone your outing if possible.
Loss of vehicle control can be scary. To help avoid skidding on slippery surfaces, reduce your speed and increase your following distance behind the vehicle ahead.
In addition, you can:
Beware of Icy or Wet Locations
Ice tends to collect in shady areas, under bridges and overpasses, and low points on the road. As a result, on cold days slow down even more when approaching shaded areas, bridges, overpasses, and dips.
Don’t Make Sudden Maneuvers
Sudden changes in acceleration, braking, or fast turns can spin your car out of control and into a skid, especially on an icy or wet road where traction is greatly reduced.
Keep to the Paved Portion of the Road
Don’t drive on the road edge or the shoulder; poorly maintained pavement, gravel or dirt surfaces could cause a loss of vehicle control.
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Excessive rain can lead to flooded roadways which pose a danger for drivers. Six inches of water on a roadway can impair your car and cause it to stall. Twelve inches of water could cause your vehicle to float. Standing water on the road can hide debris, downed power lines, and sink holes. If at all possible you should attempt to find a different route when you come across a flooded roadway. If you have no other option but to proceed through standing water, then drive very slowly and after you have exited the water, dry your brakes by driving slowly and braking lightly. If you think the water is deeper than six inches, do not attempt to drive through it.
No time to read a long-winded BLOnG? Welcome to the Three-Second-Stop mini-Blog.
As you may already know, wet roads require extra care when driving. However, were you aware that many roads are the most slippery when it first starts to rain, particularly if it hasn’t rained in a long time? When rain first begins to fall, the accumulated oil on the road will be loosened and mixed with the water, making it even slicker than after it has been raining for a while.
No time to read a long-winded BLOnG? Welcome to the Three-Second-Stop mini-Blog.
Here are some quick tips for driving in wet weather:
It takes the average car twice as long to stop on a wet road as on a dry road!
Unlike the popular 80’s song Blame it On the Rain, don’t. What did rain ever do to you besides water your garden and kind-of wash your car?? Though rain is blamed for a gazillion accidents each year, most of these fender-benders are preventable and not the rain’s fault at all. Rather, the true culprits of foul-weather flip-overs are un-brainy drivers failing to concede that they need to save their normal driving habits for another un-rainy day.
Here are a handful of wet-road-reminders for those days when the rain won’t go away:
What did we learn? Driving conditions will be less than ideal as long as raindrops keep falling on your hood. If you can, stay off the streets when the weather takes a turn for the wet. If you have places to go and people you must see, just remember that not all driving situations were created equal, and when it comes to wet roads, you need to carry yourself with a little extra common sense!