Aquaplaning is a condition that occurs when water accumulates in front of a car's tires, between the rubber and the road surface. The water pressure in front of the tire pushes a layer of water under it, reducing grip and causing you to lose control of the car. While it can be a scary experience, especially if all four wheels suffer from aquaplaning, the most important thing to do is stay calm.
Steps
Step 1. Take your foot off the accelerator and drive the car carefully towards the road
Do this until the car slows down and you feel the tires stick to the asphalt again.
Step 2. Drive slowly and carefully to avoid skidding, and maintain live brake and throttle pressure
If you have to brake, do it with gentle movements; if your car has ABS, you can brake normally. Make sure you don't lock the wheels, or your car will skid.
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Avoid sudden acceleration and braking. Do not make sudden turns, as they could cause you to lose control of the car.
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If your car starts skidding, keep calm and slowly take your foot off the accelerator. Don't panic! Keep driving the car so that the front is moving in the correct direction, and you may have to constantly change direction to do so. Avoid braking unless your car has ABS; if so, you can brake hard as your car skids.
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Step 3. Be careful on winding roads, being careful to drive slowly and steer with smooth movements
Step 4. Try to drive in the ruts left by other cars
This decreases the likelihood of water accumulating in front of the tires and causing you to lose control of the car.
Step 5. Understand how to manage specific aquaplaning conditions according to the direction you are moving and the wheels affected
- If your vehicle was moving straight ahead, you might hear it sway and move in all directions. Use larger steering movements to control the vehicle, and always turn in the direction that would make the front of the car go straight ahead.
- If the drive wheels undergo aquaplaning, you may notice an increase in the speedometer and engine revs as the wheels begin to spin. Counter this by releasing the accelerator, slowing down and steering the car so that it drives straight ahead.
- If the front wheels undergo aquaplaning, the car will begin to slide towards the outside of the curve. Slow down and continue to steer so the car can drive straight ahead.
- If the rear wheels undergo aquaplaning, the rear of the car will begin to move sideways in a skid. Spin the wheels in the direction of the skid until the aquaplaning of the rear axle stops and regain grip, then spin the wheels quickly in the opposite direction to straighten the vehicle.
- If all four wheels undergo aquaplaning, the car will spin forward in a straight line, as if it were on a large sled. It is essential to remain calm, slow down significantly by taking your foot off the accelerator and continuing to control the steering wheels towards the road. That way, when one or more wheels regain traction, you're ready to take back control.
Step 6. Prevent aquaplaning by replacing worn tires, maintaining their tread pattern correctly and maintaining their pressure
Make sure you drive safely in rainy conditions by slowing down your speed.
- Worn tires have a greater tendency to aquaplaning because they have shallower treads. A tire with a half-worn tread will undergo aquaplaning at 5-7km / h less than new tires.
- Lightly inflated tires can deflect inwards, and this raises the center of gravity of the wheel which will accumulate water more easily.
- The tires at greatest risk of aquaplaning have a small diameter and are wide.
- The longer and thinner the contact point, the less likely a tire is to undergo aquaplaning. A heavier weight on well-inflated wheels reduces the risk of aquaplaning, and the opposite is true for low-inflated tires.
Advice
- It is best to avoid being in an aquaplaning situation by making sure the tires are in good condition, and by driving slowly in wet conditions. As a general rule, you should slow down your speed by at least a third during extreme rainy days.
- A tire tread is designed to expel water from the rubber, but in some cases the water build-up is so high that the tires can't handle it. Take your foot off the accelerator to slow down and regain grip on the asphalt.
- Airplane tires can also cause aquaplaning. Handling that situation requires different techniques than those described in this article, which assumes you are driving a land-based motor vehicle.
Warnings
- Don't use cruise control if it rains a lot. Your vehicle will recognize water buildup as a slowdown and demand more power, which can cause problems.
- Don't brake hard when your car undergoes aquaplaning, even though it will probably be your first instinct. Braking too much can cause the wheels to lock, and in this way risk a skid and greater loss of control of the vehicle.
- Electronic Stability Control, or ESC system, and ABS cannot replace prudent driving and good tire care. ESC systems use advanced braking techniques, but which still rely on tire-to-asphalt contact - at best, it helps in recovery when the car slows down enough to regain traction, but cannot prevent aquaplaning.
