Driving safely in the rain

SO IT’S been raining like crazy the past few weeks and traffic has been wreaking havoc in Metro Manila.

I can’t exactly understand why it should make traffic much worse as flooding hasn’t really been an issue. The only problem I see is that the vast majority of Filipino drivers don’t know how to read and adjust their driving styles to suit rainy weather.

There are three types of rainy weather driving conditions I consider. The first is slick, greasy roads, where light rain has formed a thin but very tangible layer of oily surface which inhibits a tire’s contact patch from being in contact with the road.

Then there’s normal rain water present on the roads where the tire’s sips and grooves are able to effectively channel and pump out water between the road and the tire’s contact patch.

And then standing water, such as floods which can cause hydroplaning and loss of control because the tire’s contact patch glides on top of the water, much like a flat-bottom boat’s hull on the sea.

Of these three conditions, the first two are definitely dangerous, but the second condition, where normal volume of rain water is present on the road, is what is most common. And in this case, you and I can pretty much drive normally.

The first three conditions can be felt by the palm of your hands: the steering lightens up significantly, there’s almost no feel in the steering, or it is vague at best. Once you feel these conditions, you should slow down to a speed where a car’s movements are manageable for you. But the second condition feels absolutely normal (unless you’re running any form of race tire on the road, D.O.T. legal or not) such that you can pretty much drive it as if it were dry.

I’ve driven to just shy of 200kph on moderately heavy rain out on the highway in an old SUV with relatively old tires, but still having decent tread-depth left. I didn’t notice any difference wet or dry. There’s no magic or special secret technique here, just lots of practice in honing your skills and grasping for feel on the road.

And I think therein lies the problem with the vast majority of Filipino drivers. They get in, turn on the ignition, warm up a bit then drive off like mad.

Just because they can steer left and right, or juggle clutch, brake and gas pedal, they think they can be considered decent drivers already. How sad, yet how so very true.

Going back to rainy weather and wet roads, if people simply tried to feel their way through the road, rather than automatically defaulting to going slow once precipitation starts, traffic will improve vastly.

Of course, there are other mitigating factors, such as pedestrians who crowd out and onto the road itself in the hopes of hailing and getting into a PUV faster, cars with bald tires, badly streaked windshields and defunct wipers, and at night, cars with no working headlamps and tail lamps that definitely need to slow down because of fear of getting in an accident.

Driving is indeed a right, but with any right comes the responsibility to protect it, and more importantly, the responsibility to utilize that right fully to your advantage.

Driving is definitely not an involuntary action that doesn’t require thought, neither is owning a car.

Driving and owning a car requires responsibility to learn how to become a better, safer, more efficient and ultimately faster and quicker driver.

In the same way, owning a car means taking care of it regularly, making sure it is reliable and safe, not just for you but for other motorists on the road. That means regular PMS, replacing old and worn out parts and upgrading some key components of your car as needed, such as lighting systems, tires and your windshield wipers. More people will be glad you did, and safer for it.

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