There is a reason for these tips. The plain fact is that to keep from losing control you have to slow your pace, put some distance between you and the car ahead, see to it your tyres are up to scratch and avoid any standing water. Should you need a quick answer as to how one does not end up hydroplaning, there you have it; in the main it comes down to speed and the state of your tyres.
A title like Hydroplaning Prevention Tips may seem a little mechanical but the situation is all too human. A run of worn tyres, a bit of overconfidence when the road is wet and some water on the tarmac and before you know it the car is as unmanageable as a shopping trolley on ice. I am Isadora Northwood. In my line of work I am usually expounding on skin and aftercare and the like, but I put road safety in the same category: it is boring business until it is not.
Driving in the wet is a different proposition depending on where you are in Australia. For those seeking rain tips for famous Australian drives, in Brisbane a storm will have the kerbs under water in the time it takes to get through a song on the radio. You will find coastal roads are still greasy after the first shower. Then there are the long inland or Top End highways, deceptively flat until you are faced with poor visibility and pools of water. Here we will go over what leads to aquaplaning, ways to mitigate the risk, the proper way to handle a slide and the things that tend to trip people up.
Why It Can Be Dangerous In A Hurry
When water gets between the road and your tyres the rubber has no grip to speak of. The tyre is riding on water rather than holding the surface, making acceleration, braking and steering at best less effective and at worst useless.
The onset is abrupt. The car is put down one moment and the next it is vague and light, as though the steering wheel has ceased to communicate with you. Most would be wrong to assume you need a wild storm or deep floodwater for it to occur; even a modest amount of standing water can do it if you are going fast and the tread is not good.
The Sensation Of Hydroplaning
You will know it quickly enough. The engine might rev a little more freely, the steering becomes numb and the vehicle will drift. A sudden tug is possible if one side of the car comes across a pool. It is unnerving so you will want to respond with calm rather than drama.
What Puts You At Risk
It is seldom just one factor. More often it is a combination of driver inputs that are too sharp for the conditions, water depth and speed. The problem is wet roads are not always as rough as they should be.
Folks will make much of the rain, yet a light rain can be as slippery, particularly after a dry spell has allowed oil and grime to come to the top. Toss in ruts, painted markings or a well polished urban road and the car is hard put to hold its grip.
On Tread, Water And Speed
The faster you go the less opportunity the tyre has to displace water, which is what the channels in the tread are made for. With low tread depth it cannot do the job and the likelihood of hydroplaning is greater.
You will hear the likes of Michelin and Bridgestone make much of the connection between speed and wet grip in their consumer material. And for good reason. Motoring sites such as MotorWeek, SafeMotorist, Kelley Blue Book, AutoZone, Caliber and Les Schwab will tell you the same thing: excessive speed and a worn tyre are the usual suspects.
Other Things To Consider
Then there is the matter of tyre pressure. Too little and the contact patch is distorted, stability suffers; too much and you are not in optimal contact with the road. Neither is conducive to preventing hydroplaning.
Suspension and alignment and weight distribution count for something too. If the vehicle is already prone to bounce or pull to one side, control in the wet will be further eroded. Do not think a ute or SUV is exempt from the laws of physics; confidence is no substitute for grip.
In the end, sensible driving in these conditions is somewhat dull. There is no trick as effective in warding off hydroplaning as a measured approach to the road: steer and brake with restraint, and put your speed in line with what you can see and the water on the tarmac. Leave the driving for when you are in a hurry to get the last hot chook at the servo for another day.
Should one rule of thumb be retained, let it be this: afford your tyres the time they need to displace the water. You will find that requires more space about you, less haste and smoother inputs. It is nothing complicated, but then again, simple is what works.
Core Wet-Weather Moves
- Do not wait until you are in the pooled water to slow down; do it before you get there.
- On a wet road most drivers would put in twice their usual following distance so as to have room for progressive braking.
- When the rain is coming down hard or water is pooling, switch off the cruise control. Direct throttle response and speed control are preferable.
- Be smooth with the steering wheel and eschew any abrupt lane changes in the vicinity of trucks, off-ramps, bridges and painted arrows.
- Hard braking should be reserved for an emergency of sorts; a more gradual application allows the tyres to hold contact.
- Where it is safe, follow the path of the vehicle in front. The tracks left by its tyres may not have as much surface water.
What Most Drivers Get Wrong
The error of most is to react too late. For the first few kilometres things seem manageable and along they go at dry-road speeds until they come to a low patch or rut with deeper standing water. Then there is the matter of overcorrecting; some panic braking and heavy handedness on the wheel will make a full loss of control of what was only a momentary slip of grip.
Tailgating in the spray is another pitfall. A short following distance does not just impede your ability to brake, it robs you of the time to see how the lanes are draining or to avoid a puddle if your view is obscured.
Tyres And Car Prep
One of the least expensive safety upgrades available is proper tyre maintenance to stave off hydroplaning, even if it is not very glamorous. Race-car equipment is not called for, just a car in order and tyres with good tread and the right pressure.
In practice you check them before the wet season, before a long run on the highway or any holiday driving. Five minutes in the driveway is better than being caught out in a storm on the Bruce Highway.
Simple Maintenance Checks
A tyre can appear sound and yet be wrong, so do not put it to the eye. See to the pressure when the tyres are cold and to the setting the manufacturer puts on the placard in the driver’s door frame or in the manual.
Tread depth should be inspected from side to side, not in the centre alone; uneven wear is indicative of something amiss with the alignment or suspension. Look for bulges, cuts or anything embedded in the rubber. Wipers that smear should be put aside for new ones. You cannot handle the water if you cannot see it.
Australia’s official road-safety guidance is clear on the need to put on more stopping distance and slow down in the wet. The Queensland Government will tell you that in such conditions your stopping distances are longer and to allow for that. (See the Queensland Government’s advice on wet weather driving safety.)
Dealing With Water On Roads
This is where the theory has to be put into practice with standing water. Avoid it if you can. If you cannot, you want to be straight and under control and slower before you get to it. Avoid using cruise control in wet conditions to maintain full control over your vehicle and reduce the risk of hydroplaning.
I had my education in the suburbs rather than on some outback track. In Brisbane years back I came across a rut full of water in the course of an afternoon storm that turned the sky charcoal in ten minutes flat. I was not doing too fast but fast enough for the water. The steering became light in an odd way for a couple of seconds and the point was made.
Puddles, Ruts And Road Shape
You will find water in the wheel tracks, at the foot of a hill, in low-lying intersections and the left hand lane by the kerb. On the highway one is more apt to be deceived; the road may appear wet all over but there is deeper water in long shallow channels. Then there are coastal roads where a bit of wind, salt or an unheralded shower can alter your grip in a hurry.
The best course is to steer clear of a puddle if you can do so safely. Do not make a sudden swerve into another lane for the sake of it though, the trade-off is usually worse than the water. Should you have to put your car through some pooled water, take your speed down first and keep both hands on the wheel. Resist the urge to put the pedal to the floor in the middle of it.
When The Car Begins to Float
Dealing with hydroplaning is an exercise in restraint, not heroics. You want the tyres to make contact with the road again and there is no room for panic. As you slow the car will generally sort itself out as the tyres cut back through the water. All you have to do is see that you do not compound matters in the meantime.
A proper recovery would be to let off the accelerator in a measured way and hold the steering wheel where you want the car to go. Do not be tempted to put the brakes on hard if the vehicle is unsteady; wait for some grip to come back before applying them gently. Let the tyres re-establish themselves on the road before any major correction is made. If the rear of the car wants to step out, look and steer smoothly in the direction of travel. ABS and ESC are modern aids but they do not repeal physics. They can help with steering control under heavy braking or put in an appearance when the car skids, but they will not conjure up grip from a sheet of water.
Useful Tech Has Its Limits
Do not mistake safety technology for a free pass to disregard conditions. Some drivers are under the impression that with ABS, ESC, all-wheel drive and top shelf tyres they can carry on as usual in a downpour. Wet grip does not work like that. A dashboard of acronyms is no substitute for good tyres at the right pressure and a sensible pace.
ABS and Tyre Choices
ABS will keep the wheels from locking so you can still put in some steering, and ESC can brake a wheel or two to steady a skid. Both are of value. But if the tyres are riding on water, neither will stave off aquaplaning. The design of the tyre is important too. Major names like Michelin and Bridgestone put in tread patterns for better water displacement, but wear and tear takes its toll. One might watch a hydroplaning clip on YouTube for illustration, as a reminder of how swiftly control vanishes, rather than for the entertainment of thinking one’s reflexes are up to the task.
Tactics for Different Roads
There are some variations in how to sidestep hydroplaning depending on your location. The principles are constant but a regional road or suburban street has its own pitfalls, quite unlike a road train run in the north or a tourist route in Brisbane. Expectations can be misleading. A bush track is thought to be hazardous while the city is deemed manageable, yet an ordinary sealed road on a routine trip is where you are most likely to have a scare, familiarity being the cause of a certain laxity.
Highways
Speed is what you have to contend with here. It is difficult for the tread to get rid of water at pace, and with truck spray and crosswinds to contend with, visibility goes. Put on some overtaking distance early in a hard rain and if the lane markings become indecipherable, it is better to pull over in a safe and legal spot than to continue.
In town
Intersections and roundabouts in the suburbs can get slick in no time, as can the painted lines and diesel build-up at a light. Be on the lookout for potholes masked by water near the kerb. After a drenching rain the side streets you used to get to your parking can be ponded or obstructed.
Regional and Coastal
On the coast you can have squalls and glare and water blown right across the carriageway. Flash flooding is a risk in its own right up here in northern Australia in the wet season, and the roads can turn on you in an instant. When faced with a long drive in a day, make the safest part of it your priority and have no qualms about turning back. There are some stretches that a beginner should not be on in bad weather, period.
Australian Drives In Rain
One cannot apply a blanket approach to Australian roads. The rain and the road beneath it are quite different in the Red Centre, the Pilbara, Darwin or Brisbane. That is why the rain tips for the better known drives are of real use rather than just something to fill space.
Take the Stuart Highway: in the showers one can be lured into going too fast on the long straights. Up in the Top End come the wet season and flash floods and visibility become the order of the day; let any official warning override your timetable. On the Gibb River Road it is a question of whether to put yourself in certain sections after the rain has been and gone, as opposed to the usual hydroplaning concerns of a highway. Then there are the cyclone alerts from November to April in the north and summer bushfire closures which will impact on your access and return.
For a trip in coastal Queensland, the Pilbara or the Red Centre, have some leeway in your plans. A detour or fuel stop will alter your timing. What seems a straightforward route on paper may well be a tiring affair when you factor in the rain, road trains, works and what you can see.
A Word From Isadora
Put it all in a sentence and my advice is: do not put up with water on the road as some trifling matter, leave room, look after your tyres and slow down. That is how you stave off a hydroplane. You will find most of the scares in wet weather are born of small, harmless-seeming decisions made a few minutes before the slide.
In ugly weather put the cruise control away, check the tread and pressure on your tyres and have a respect for standing water. Make the unexciting call early to prevent hydroplaning. It is dull but it is what will bring you home.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to keep from hydroplaning?
Reduce your speed on approach to water, be smooth with the brakes and steering and have tyres in good order with the right pressure. Slowing down is the most effective immediate course of action as it allows the water to be dispersed.
How can the risk be minimised?
By way of slower driving in the rain, greater following distance and keeping off the cruise control in heavy wet. Avoid standing water where you can. It is a matter of grip so every move must be in support of tyre contact.
What lends itself to a car hydroplaning?
Any number of things: deeper water, uneven surfaces, sudden inputs from the driver, high speed or under-inflated and worn tyres. If the vehicle has suspension or alignment problems of any sort it will be less controllable once you have lost grip.
Is there a speed at which you are prone to it?
Not really, the threshold is dictated by the type of vehicle, the road, how deep the water is and the state of the tyres. But as a rule the faster you go the greater the risk, and even a posted legal speed can be excessive in a downpour.
If the car begins to hydroplane, brake hard?
Not to start with. Let off the accelerator and hold the wheel until the tyres have reconnected. Hard braking will only compound the loss of control if the vehicle is already unsettled. Apply the brakes in a gentle manner once you have grip again.
