Singing in the rain is fun. But driving? For some people, it’s anxiety-producing. But being behind the wheel and a rain-splattered windshield doesn’t have to be a white-knuckled, nerve-racking experience.


Well, the rainy season is here again and bad weather conditions are among the top causes of accidents on our roads.

Here are some tips to keep you safe on the road during this season:

The vehicle wiper should be in a good shape. If the wiper is faulty, you will find it hard to clear the water splash off your wind-shield. This will result in poor visibility, which is likely to result in an accident .


1. Brakes should be in good condition. When it rains, the roads become very slippery and some of the water gets into the brake disc. It is therefore advisable to get your brakes functioning well before you hit the road.

2. The brakes work hand-in-hand with the vehicle tires. If the tires of your vehicle are worn out, it is proper to replace them with new ones. This will facilitate good brakes on slippery roads.Clean the cover of your headlights when they are foggy. This will give you good light penetration in the evenings when it rains. After a long day, drivers are not likely to spot little details however, the fog light helps the driver with good visibility during bad weather. Drivers in this season must be mindful of their fog and headlights and replace them if they are old and not able to produce the expected light.

3. Vehicles should always have a good air conditioned system. When all the glasses of the vehicle are rolled up, the wind-shield becomes foggy after some time. You will need the air condition to clear the wind-shield.

4. Be on the lookout for sudden events that might occur. When driving through the rains, there are uncertain incidents that happen out of the blues, for example, a pedestrian slipping on the road, a vehicle ahead of you which is having a hard time stopping because of poor brakes, a tree or billboard falling on the highway and the likes. It is also advisable to leave at least four seconds space from the vehicle ahead.

5. During rains, visibility level is poor. If you have problems with your eyes, it is better to let somebody who has good eyesight drive.

6. Do not rely on technology such as cruise control and forward collision warning system. These functions may not be efficient or available due to the rains. Having electronic stability control features such as the anti-skid control or lane-keeping assistant will also be a plus.

7. If your car is hydroplaning (That’s the technical term for what occurs when your tires are getting more traction on the layer of water on the road than on the road itself—the result is that your car begins to slide uncontrollably) or has little contact with the ground, it is recommended that you slowly take your leg off the gas, remain calm and steer straight or slightly in the direction that you want to go.


8. Avoid driving through flooded roads. The water can enter your engine and cause it to breakdown. At worse, the water can get into the interior of the car or float it in the direction of the floods.

Source: https://brandspurng.com/tips-for-driving-safely-in-the-rain/

For me, these are the rules for driving in the rain:

Distance between the vehicles in front of you and those behind you is your best friend.

Working brakes are your next best friend

Tires with plenty of thread depth are a must

A functional HVAC is a life-saver too

MPVGoddess:
For me, these are the rules for driving in the rain:

Distance between the vehicles in front of you and those behind you is your best friend.

Working brakes are your next best friend

Tires with plenty of thread depth are a must

A functional HVAC is a life-saver too

Very Apt!

MPVGoddess:
For me, these are the rules for driving in the rain:

Distance between the vehicles in front of you and those behind you is your best friend.

Point 4

Working brakes are your next best friend

Point 1

Tires with plenty of thread depth are a must

Point 2

A functional HVAC is a life-saver too

Point 3

You basically summarised part of what he wrote.

rodeo0070:


Very Apt!

On several occasions that has meant speeding up so as to escape from long rows of rain-induced slow-moving vehicles lest one man's braking mistake in the rain turns into my financial misfortune and had I known?

PaperLace:

Point 4


Point 1


Point 2


Point 3

You basically summarised part of what he wrote.

I will agree with everything you said except this - Distance between the vehicles in front of you and those behind you is your best friend.

I do that irrespective of the situation, whether there is a sudden unexpected occurrence or there is none, also I don't observe the 4 seconds rule, I observe the rule that I will create and maintain for myself as much distance as it will allow me to brake slower than normal and prevent me from being the subject/object of another driver's miscalculations. By applying those rules, I have done consistently 120 to 140km/hr in the rain times without number without incident.

Until I can create and maintain that gap, I will remain hyperactive and at high alert for the worst that can happen while driving in the rain

Maybe we are saying the same thing in different words, but his slant is different from mine

Thanks for sharing. This is so important at this particular point in time.

OK! Nice info

Just make sure your car AC is very effective


Keep reasonable distance

Put in your headlamps

If you have a companion in the car it's also good



But driving in the rain at night is a nightmare (who has the secret to this place share)

No 3 is most important for me. I can't imagine how peeps cope without AC when driving under the rain

Maybe I missed it. I did not see the most important tip for driving in the rain. "SLOW DOWN" you can have all the conditions you listed met, but if you traveling too fast for the weather condition,none of those can save you.

Have a good ac, good tires, and good brakes.

Whatever happened to a good working wiper?

Headlights should also be on. To provide better sight and also alert other drivers if the weather is foggy and dark. They might not have enough visibility to see an on coming car if the head lights are off.

Caution indicators should also be on when driving slowly in the rain.

TRAY2:
No 3 is most important for me. I can't imagine how peeps cope without AC when driving under the rain

sounds a bit silly,
by ac on, i wanna believe you mean you blow hot air to clear the fogginess on the car glass?

nice piece but how can we avoid flooded roads in this dead country that has no roads

it is better you do 'follow follow' for the roads you are not familiar with.

my little piece.

engrrichie92:


sounds a bit silly,
by ac on, i wanna believe you mean you blow hot air to clear the fogginess on the car glass?

The bolded is what is silly. The fog is created by body heat and your breath.... you use your AC with cold Air to clear the fog not your car heater.

What's tha business?

Nice tips

Let me share a personal experience I had sometime in December 2016...

I was driving down from Gwarimpa estate to the airport to drop my sibling off @ the airport to catch a 9pm flight...

20 mins into the journey It started raining heavily...

On getting to Lugbe axis... wiper stopped working...

Time was already 8:15pm..

We couldn't afford to miss that flight...

We were somewhat confused and even panicked...

To make things worse... the street lights were all shut down...

Hmmm... had no option than to risk it...

Now here is what I did..


1. I reduced speed to a controlable level...

2. Turned on hazard light...

3. Used a rag to clean the fog on the windshield @ intervals..


I noticed that I was going too slow... and if I continued like that.... my sibling might miss the flight...

4. So I watched out for all these VIPs that drive in convoy of black Toyota Landcruiser Prado Jeeps...

5. As soon as I spotted one of such convoy... I married up with the backup escort vehicle...

6. I was 99.9% sure they were also heading to the airport..

7. That's how I did follow follow with them till I arrived the airport safely...

8. In fact I joined the convoy into the VIP driveway at the terminal ...

9. Airport security mistook my vehicle to be part of the convoy...

10. That's how my sibling alighted from the car like a boss... and was treated by airport officials like a VIP...

11. We got to understand that the vip we were following was also in a hurry to catch same flight...

12. We were able to beat the timing ...

So if ur confronted with such situation... this might come in handy...

If You are driving in a flood or water logged area, put Off Your Car A.C ( AIR Conditioner. )...to avoid risk of damaging the A.C condenser or Compressor

You can use the car fan only and focus the blower direction to the Car windscreen to fan- blow mist ( car fan not a.c)

If the rain is really very heavy then forget all these tips n look for a safe place to park n wait for d rain to subside.eg filling station.

Driving under very heavy rain na hazardous driving raise to power 10 bikonu