What is Hydroplaning?

Hydroplaning is when your tires lose grip with a wet road surface and skid. This happens when your tires come in contact with more water than it can disperse. The build up of water creates a pressure difference and pushes water underneath the tire. The tires will then be on top of a thin layer of water that negatively impacts your vehicles braking, power delivery and steering. Hydroplaning can be more severe if there has an absence of rain. The oils and debris on the dry road will be building up causing the first rain fall to bring all of the oils and debris to the surface. This will make the road surfaces more slick than usual.

[ux_image id=”22245″]

What Should I Do If I Hydroplane?

    • Slowly ease off the accelerator

    • Steer straight ahead or towards an area with no cars or obstacles

    • Do not slam on the breaks, instead firmly pump the breaks

 

How Can I Prevent Hydroplaning?

    • Do not use cruise control in the rain. The cruise control system may think you are slowing down due to the traction loss and it will increase the throttle causing your car to lose even more traction

    • Avoid large pools of standing water

    • Invest in good quality tires

    • Slow down in wet conditions

Rain can be a significant safety hazard. Make sure to remember to reduce your speed and to leave a larger following distance to the vehicles in front of you. This will ensure you have enough stopping distance if you do hydroplane.