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Rain is the most common weather
problem affecting drivers in the British Isles and yet, most of the time,
drivers take very little notice of the fact that driving conditions have, as a
result, worsened considerably. For example: -
1.
Vision may be
seriously reduced by spray from other vehicles, especially lorries (trucks), as
can be seen in the picture. This results in the driver receiving less
information about road and traffic conditions ahead and therefore reacting
later to danger.
2.
Tyres do not grip as
efficiently on a wet road as they do on a dry road. Braking distances are
therefore DOUBLED.
3.
There is the danger of
“Aquaplaning”, which is when your tyres lose contact with the road as a result
of trapping a cushion of rainwater between them and the road
So, what can be done?
With regard to 1.
- Check
your vehicle regularly in order to ensure that the windscreen wipers are
operating correctly and that the wiper blades are effectively cleaning the
screen and not leaving smears of missed water, that dead insects are not
trapped between the blade and screen and that leaves and other debris are
not similarly trapped. These types of problem lead to inefficient
operation of the wiper blades and reduce your vision even more.
- Check
that your lights are all in good working order. REMEMBER if
you can’t see clearly; other drivers can’t see YOU clearly. IF YOU
NEED LIGHTS YOU NEED HEADLIGHTS. Sidelights are for use when
parking at night not for driving with!!!
- Increase
the separation distance between you and the vehicle in front of you; it
will decrease the amount of spray hitting your windscreen and will give
you a better chance of spotting “hazards” ahead.
With regard to 2
- Increase
your separation distance. In good conditions on a dry road you require a
separation distance that equates to a 2 second time gap between you and
the vehicle in front of you in order to stop safely in an emergency. On
wet roads this distance is doubled so leave a time gap of 4 seconds
between the time the vehicle in front of you passes a fixed point (e.g. a
lamp post) and the time at which you pass the same point. If you can say
“ONLY A FOOL BREAKS THE 2 SECOND RULE” twice before you pass the lamppost
you should be safe!
- Make
sure that your tyres are correctly inflated (read the vehicles handbook
for the correct pressures) note the correct pressure for
the front tyres will probably be different to the correct pressure for the
rear tyres!
With regard to 3
- The tread on your tyre is absolutely vital to the
tyre being able to do its job, which is to grip the road and to pump water
away from the road’s surface. When water is not effectively removed from
the interface of the road and tyre the tyre can rise up onto a “wave” of
rainwater and lose contact with the road completely. Ensure your tyres have adequate tread
depth. The legal minimum in the UK is 6 millimetres across ¾ of the tyres
width without any bald patches. This is the minimum requirement
deeper tread is preferable. Test the depth with a gauge on a regular basis
to maintain legality and your safety.
- If your vehicle does start to aquaplane the first
thing that you will notice will be that the steering becomes noticeably
lighter. This is because YOUR TYRES ARE NO LONGER IN CONTACT WITH THE ROAD
SURFACE!!!
It is, therefore, useless and dangerous to
attempt to brake or steer while this situation continues. Your reaction should be to ease off the accelerator
(gas) and let the car lose speed without braking. Do not steer during this
because the direction of travel will not change until the tyres regain contact
with the road. If movement of the steering wheel has occurred during
aquaplaning a very sudden change in direction could result when the tyres
regain their grip with tragic consequences.
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