Driving Safely in Heavy Rain, Do’s and Don’ts!!

We all love rainy season and enjoy it with masala chai and pakoras, but when it comes to traveling or driving in this season it becomes scary.

Yes! Driving in rainy season is very difficult as the roads get flooded with rain water and it becomes difficult to see the road ahead despite of having your car’s rain wipers on high speed. This in turn leads to road accidents.

Here we have listed a few points to be taken take care of while driving during this beautiful season:

• First and foremost, never drive when drunk. Drunk driving is one of the major cause of road accidents. Alcohol causes reduced intoxication, coordination and lowers inhibitions, which leads driving to a rough phase due to dizziness.
• Never speed your vehicle. At higher speed, the risk increases as it becomes difficult to control the vehicle.
• Never use mobile phones. This distracts you and leads to accidents. The main reason is that using a cell phone while driving can delay reaction times by as much as 20 percent.
• Don’t nod off. If a driver is tired while driving, the results are dangerous. Even on a straight highway, a sleeping driver will eventually drift off the road. Therefore, get a good nap before sitting behind the wheels.
• Always wear your seat belts. Seat belts save lives during crashes/accidents if worn properly. Seat belts prevent you from going forward towards the windshield during sudden braking.
• Be extra cautious during bad weather like fog, heavy rain, a snow storm or on icy roads.
• Keep your car well-maintained all the time and specially during raining season. If your car has issues like loose bolt of a tyre, under inflated tyres, engine noise, etc, get it inspected by a mechanic to fix it.
• During raining season, make sure you take appropriate measures to avoid risks like maintaining a safe distance from the car in front and back and try to slow down accordingly. However, it may not be safe to drive at the normal speed limit if the road’s visibility is reduced.
• Never use hot water on your windscreen as it defrost your windscreen due to the sudden change in temperature. This could also cause your vehicle’s windscreen crack.

  Don’t drive on a flooded road as it can cause your brakes to be less responsive and even damage the gearbox and the engine.

• Don’t ignore warnings like traffic signals.
• Get you car inspected and make sure that you got a suitable coolant or a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze in your radiator. Make sure your car battery is in a good condition, your tyres have correct tread depth and pressure, and your car's engine oil and water are topped up.
• During breakdown, look for the problem with battery (most common cause of breakdowns during the season) and look for help. You can also keep with a small pack of all emergency kit to fix the problem on your own.
• Avoid splashing rain water on pedestrians and cyclists.
• When stopping due to rain, make sure to stop on the sides of the road, not in the middle or heavy traffic. This will put other people in danger as they have to apply hard brakes due to reduced visibility and to avoid traffic Jam.
• Check your wipers, if worn out, replace them as soon as possible. Bad condition of wipers do not clear water from the windshield. Check the rubber, if hard or worn out, change them.
• Check your tyres. Worn out tyres results in reduced grip on wet surface and increases the risk of sliding and breaking distance.
• Use your lights, make sure to switch your car’s headlamps and foglamps on whenever visibility is poor or it rains. Also turn on your emergency lights. This is for other drivers to know where you are driving.
• When your windscreen turns hazy, turn on the air condition or heater or defogger.
• If you don’t have an AC car, partially open a window, else stop the car and clean the windshield.