ARTICLE: Safe Driving in the Rains

[gpa]

Originally Posted by teknophobia

Hehe. I guess I can laugh with my 3.5 litre wiper fluid tank that comes as standard fitment on the DLX . Never had a situation where I have run out of fluid.

Boy, you are luck. But I guess you have not driven in the monsoon rains for 3 hours at a stretch

[geeash]

I mean literally skated across the sheet of water to the left when my steering was indeed pointing straight

oh my gosh. That should have been scary. I cant even think of such things. I would have stepped on the accelerator in fright.........

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by teknophobia

Hehe. I guess I can laugh with my 3.5 litre wiper fluid tank that comes as standard fitment on the DLX . Never had a situation where I have run out of fluid.

showoff . The rest of us indica owners have to make do with 1.5 litre tanks.

[gpa]

Originally Posted by geeash

oh my gosh. That should have been scary. I cant even think of such things. I would have stepped on the accelerator in fright.........

Stepping on the accelerator is the most common response which will lead to you losing total control of the car. The reason is on front wheel drive cars, power is transferred to the front wheel which in most cases aquaplane and the sudden surge in power will only lead to total loss of traction.

Once you lower your speed, you are giving time to the tread of your tyres to channelize water and regain traction with the road surface. Just be sure to give slow corrective inputs on the steering as well, so you can control the car.

I seriously wonder how some cab drivers manage with this as most of them drive with bald tyres

[greenhorn]

actually i step off the accelerator whenever i see mud, sand , water etc. let the car move on its own accord and inertia, without losing control at the same time

[royalcruiser]

Originally Posted by Akki_5

as somebody had pointed out earlier, half the guys don't know that there is a low beam and a high beam in the headlamps (if at all they do know, then they definitely do not know when to use which!)

God save us!

Very true! And its hard to believe, but educated and young drivers on the road are completely unaware of what high and low beam is. This happened when I was riding pillion with a colleague of mine and when I asked him why he rides with the high beam always on, he was like "wo kya hota hai!"

[Gordon]

Noticed that keeping the revs low AND a safe distance, helps to be in more control of the car/bike when there is traffic. During traffic situations, most people try to stick around the car in front by quickly accelerating and moving to higher rpms. But when they have to brake the car/bike becomes quite twitchy while braking.

[gpa]

Originally Posted by royalcruiser

he was like "wo kya hota hai!"

Guys like these need to be clobbered

[teknophobia]

Originally Posted by gpa

Boy, you are luck. But I guess you have not driven in the monsoon rains for 3 hours at a stretch

I have driven in the monsoon rains for far more than 3 hours at a stretch, I used to stay in Kharghar earlier and well, it is truly fun to drive around the Khargahar/Pune/Ghats area in the monsoons, esp. when it's pouring
And lets not forget my daily commute on the sion panvel highway, where you encounter container trucks spraying muddy water higher than your car. I used to leave home with a freshly cleaned car and land up in office looking like I had run a rally.

[gururaj r]

This happened almost a year ago. I was alone in the car driving from Madurai to Mumbai in my old Premier Padmini . I was driving at around 80 kmph and the rains were pouring. I had taken the extreme right of the road since the middle road was fully waterlogged and full of potholes. Mine was one of the last few cars passing the highway since I read in the papers the next day the highway was closed due to heavy rain. At that speed in that old car, I did not feel any sort of discomfort or aquaplane.

[Zahir]

Originally Posted by Zahir

Though being careful, it is often unavoidable to have water splash when you're driving in the rain. Surprisingly, a lot of people do it. I was wondering how bad water splashes really are for your car because honestly, the only other alternative is not driving at all. Opinions?

Guys anything on this?

[asethi]

Originally Posted by Akki_5

then very shockingly he switches on the right side indicator lamp.
thinking that he would now cut to the right, i do not overtake him but flash a couple of times more.

Yeah on the Indian highways flashing the indicator means giving way. The right side indicator means, overtake from the right!
Come to highways of Karnataka/TN, the trucks/buses will always give you a left indicator signal, and there will always be a truck driving parallel to them on the left with nowhere for you to go! :-)

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by Zahir

Guys anything on this?

i dont think water splashing will harm your car in any way. but do this at high speeds & again it can lead to aquaplanning.

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by gpa

driven in the monsoon rains for 3 hours at a stretch

Kerala gives you that opportunity very often!
I did a 2.5 hours drive last saturday in the rain and in the night! The rain was really heavy, and on that 2 laned NH 47, the truckers make your life hell!
So easy way out, slow down, drive steady, and be very careful! Especially in Kerala, people walk on the road coz the sides of the road are too muddy after the rain, and you really cannot expect them to be anywhere else. (they put the red soil as land fill)..

[gpa]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

Kerala gives you that opportunity very often!

This was on a drive from I did from BLR to TVM. Hit heavy rains as soon as I entered the Kerala border Valayar checkpost and it continued with a drizzle all the way till Ernakulam