Your Driving
and
the
Road
It’s wise to keep your wiping equipment
in
good shape and keep your windshield
washer tank filled. Replace your
windshield wiper inserts when they show
signs of streaking or missing areas on the
windshield, or when strips of rubber start
to separate from the inserts.
Driving too fast through large water
puddles or even going through some car
washes can cause problems, too. The
water may affect your brakes. Try to
avoid puddles. But
if
you can’t,
try
to
slow down before you hit them.
Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning is dangerous.
So
much
water can build
up
under your tires that
they can actually ride on the water. This
can happen if the road is
wet
enough and
you’re going fast enough. When your
vehicle is hydroplaning,
it
has little or no
contact
with
the road.
Hydroplaning doesn’t happen often.
But
it
can if your tires haven’t much tread or
if
the pressure
in
one or more is low. It can
happen
if
a lot of water is standing
on
the
road.
If
you can see reflections from trees,
telephone poles, or other vehicles, and
raindrops “dimple” the water’s surface,
there could be hydroplaning.
Hydroplaning usually happens at higher
speeds. There just isn’t a hard and fast
rule about hydroplaning. The best advice
is to slow down when it is raining.
Some Other Rainy Weather Tips
Turn on your low-beam headlights
-
not just your parking lights
-
to help
make you more visible to others.
0
Besides slowing down, allow some
extra following distance. And be
especially careful when you pass
another vehicle. Allow yourself more
. .
.I18
To Next Page
Loading...
