Brake Slowlyĭo not brake suddenly, or the wheels may lock up and you may skid. A greater following distance makes up for the greater braking distance that you will experience in rain. To determine your following distance, simply pick a point up ahead like a road sign, and when the car in front passes it, count how many seconds go by before you pass it. On the freeway, for instance, the recommended following distance is four seconds in normal weather but six seconds in rain. Increase Your Following DistanceĪt the same time as you lower your speed, increase your following distance from the car in front of you. Make sure you turn on your headlights together with your windshield wipers. By going slower, you not only control your vehicle better but also give yourself more time to react to potential hazards: pedestrians darting out, debris on the road, etc. The general rule is to cut your speed by one-third in wet weather. As we said above, the faster you go, the less traction you have on the road because of the water that collects between the tires and the pavement. This may be the most important tip of all. Take the following safety tips into account, and you will drastically reduce your chances of a crash in heavy rain. The fact is that most accidents, in rain or shine, are the result of negligence. #DRIVING IN HEAVY RAIN DRIVERS#Though the rain may present a myriad dangers, it can’t always be used as an excuse when drivers get in a car accident. Potholes, in particular, are not something you want to speed over because they can affect your vehicle’s wheel alignment and damage the struts, axles, and other components. Water on the road can hide hazards that you would otherwise swerve out of the way of, such as road debris and potholes. And naturally, drivers may become so focused on what’s ahead of them that they forget to use their peripheral vision. California law requires drivers to turn on their headlights when adverse weather forces them to use the windshield wipers, but even with this combination of headlights and wipers, your vision may become impaired on account of the light being reflected and scattered in the rain. Lack of Visibilityīefore rain hits the ground, it can obscure drivers’ vision even when the windshield wipers are in use. If you don’t apply the brakes sooner, then you’re liable to cause a rear-end collision. In fact, heavy rain can double your braking distance. You can see, then, that rain will have an impact on this. This distance can be influenced by a number of things, such as your vehicle’s size, the amount of wear on its tires, the condition of the pavement, and your speed. Longer Braking Distancesīy braking distance, we mean the distance it takes for a car to come to a complete stop. Even a slight turn could cause your car to skid. In any event, you will be much more likely to lose control of your steering and brakes. The situation becomes worse if your tires have worn tread. So after driving a while in the rain, your tires may not actually be touching the road. As the tires hit the water and cause pressure to build up, water is sent under the tires and creates a thin film between the tires and the road. This leads to a condition called hydroplaning. But the faster you drive, the less time there is for the tires to do this. If you drove slowly enough, the tires will scatter the water, and you should be able to maintain contact with the road. Your tires lose traction when they are wet, which means they don’t grip the surface of the road as well as they should. This will be good to keep in mind because if you were in an accident in heavy rain and you believe that the other side was at fault, you will likely need a car accident attorney to help you bring all the factors together in presenting your case. The answer lies not in one factor but in the combination of many. This brings us to the question of why driving in rain can be so dangerous and even deadly. Accident Risk Increases in RainĪ 2019 study from the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies analyzed the link between rainy weather and car accidents and found that, overall, the risk for a fatal accident increases 34% when there is a “precipitation event.” Even if the rain is nothing more than a drizzle, the authors say that the risk goes up 27%. Contrast this with the 18% that occur in snow and 13% that take place on icy pavement. Rain, however, had the largest part to play with some 46% of weather-related accidents occurring during rainfall and 70% arising on wet pavement. Now, weather-related accidents cover many scenarios, including those that take place because of rain, snow, fog, and heavy winds. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that weather-related accidents kill an average of 5,000 people and injure over 418,000. Of these, around 21% are weather-related. According to the Federal Highway Administration, there are close to 5.9 million car accidents every year in this country.
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