Tips for driving in the rain

Tips for Driving in the Rain

Most people don’t particularly like driving in the rain and this can increase stress and anxiety. When it rains, we all need to take more care to handle the bad road conditions. An average of 24% of crashes happen in the rain, according to the RSA. Two types of drivers can cause these crashes – excessively timid drivers and reckless drivers.
To keep yourself, your passengers, and other road users safe when driving in wet weather, check out our Rainy Driving Tips below.
Rainy Driving Tips

FBD advise that the most critical safety tip for driving in the rain is to make sure you can see and be seen, as in stormy conditions; it is more difficult to see other vehicles, road signs and the road itself. Here are some tips for staying safe:
Slow down! – It takes longer to stop or adjust in wet weather.
Maintain a safe distance from the car in front of you. This is normally two seconds behind, but in wet weather, you should increase this to a gap of 4 seconds between your car and the car in front of you (to calculate this, start counting when the car in front passes a certain landmark and keep counting until you pass that same landmark).
Drive in the tracks of the car ahead of you but don’t follow too closely.
Keep your distance behind large vehicles (e.g Lorries or buses). The spray created by their large tires will reduce your vision. Take care when passing them as well; if you must pass, do so quickly and safely.
Be more alert when driving in wet or slippery conditions. Avoid using your brakes; if possible, take your foot off the accelerator to slow down.
Turn your headlights on, even in a light rain, Not only do they help you see the road, but they’ll help other drivers see you.
Never drive beyond the limits of visibility. At night, rainy roads become especially treacherous. In rainy conditions pedestrians, livestock, and wildlife are extremely hard to spot and even harder to avoid.
Never drive through moving water if you can’t see the ground through it.
If possible, stay off the road during heavy rain.
If you have any other tips for driving in the rain make sure to leave a comment on this post!
Mario Marchetti is a writer for FBD and an avid driver. Notching up over 1500KM per month there is not much he has not seen on the road!
Sources: www.adidriving.ie www.fbd.ie www.rsa.ie

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