Driving In The Rain
Driving in the rain requires much more concentration as both your visibility and stopping distance is affected. A good set of car tyres will disperse water from the road surface to maintain grip, but there is only so much they can do! Safe driving on wet surfaces means reducing your speed and leaving more space between you and the vehicle in front.
Visibility – this is dramatically reduced not only in the rain, but also when the rain has stopped and the road is still wet a lot of spray will be kicked up, which is just another reason to stay back from the car in front. Watching out for any large vehicles driving past means you can put your windscreen wipers preemptively. Your windows should be kept clean as dirty windows are more likely to mist over. Switch the air conditioning or the heater fan on to demist them if they do mist over.
Stopping distance – the two second rule gives sufficient braking time in the dry, but in the wet you should double that to a four second rule.
Puddles and floods – water on the road can lead to aquaplaning when it is shallow, or risk water ingress when it is deep. Driving slower than usual will help avoid aquaplaning, and when driving through a flood you will want to drive slow enough that you don’t create a wave that could cause water ingress. Keeping your foot on the accelerator and slipping the clutch will help avoid getting water in your exhaust, and once you are through the flooded area, you should gently press the brake to dry them off.
To sum up, when driving in the rain you should drive more carefully than usual, maintaining a slower speed and a larger gap behind the vehicle in front of you than you usually would. This will give your car tyres a better chance of keeping their grip on the road.