Wet Roads and Roadside Assistance in Belleville, IL
The rain this past week has been brutal. Take it from the leading towing service in Belleville, IL. The constant rain has made for a bummer of a climate in the area, and real downer for anyone looking forward to outside spring activity. It also makes for rough driving conditions. Here are a few ways rainy days can cause trouble for you on the road and how to avoid accidents on wet roads.
How Does Rain Affect Roads?
Rainwater makes roads slick. Okay, we all know that. Well beyond simply making roads slick, rain is a nightmare for visibility. Obviously, rain makes it hard to see long distances when traveling, and if it’s falling hard enough, your windshield wipers may have trouble keeping up. There is much more of a visibility issue at play than just your line of sight. Rain makes the road impossible to see, which in turn makes it really hard to judge where the lanes are. In turn, loss of visibility can leave you in the ditch; hopefully you have a good emergency towing service handy!
How Does Rain Effect Your Driving?
With the visibility issues we just laid out, it can be exceptionally difficult to see where you’re going and accidents become much more likely. This includes crossing lanes, going off road, or crashing into the back a car.
Rain also makes it much more difficult to stop. Water on the pavement decreases tire traction, which is why you hydroplane or have trouble stopping in wet conditions. This leads to a lot of fender benders and worse.
Avoid Standing Water!
Do not attempt to drive through standing water! On the lesser side, standing water can flood your engine and cause it to stall. On top of that, only a few feet of standing waters is enough to sweep a car off the road. Streams and creeks that floor over have a deceptively strong current, and should not be taken lightly. At best, you’re looking at a bad day. At worst, you’re looking at your last day. This bears repeating, DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH STANDING WATER.
How to avoid an accident.
Make sure not to push the gas pedal. Drive a few miles slower than you normally would to account for the loss in time you have to brake. In the same vein, leave an extra car length between you and the vehicle in front of you. This will give you more room to stop in the event that the person in front of you throws on their brakes and your tires can’t get the traction they need to safely stop.
You aren’t the only car on the road.
Sadly, no matter how safe your drive you are not the only car on the road and you can’t control what other people do. Sometimes, you just have bad luck on your end or theirs. In that case, find somewhere safe on the side of the road out of harms way and give us a call. We’ll tow your vehicle, or help you get back on the road with our emergency roadside services. Give us a call at (618) 233-7464.