Driving in the Rains - Tips

[jassi]

Also it is recommended to drive with a low beam, as a high beam may disturb the visibility for ppl coming in from the opposite direction, especially at night time. If visibility is so bad due to rain that you need high beam then it is anyway advisable to stop and wait till it stops pouring.
I completely agree with the hazard lights they make it much easier to distinguish the car in front in real bad weather. They are used all over the world when there is excess rain/snow and I read in this thread somewhere that it is now asked in our driving license test too

cheers & be safe,
j

[DieselFan]

Folks,

As a best practice drivers use fog lights (both front and rear ) during rains. Hazzard lights are used ONLY during breakdown of a vehicle.

[moralfibre]

While I believe usage of hazard lights in heavy rains / fog serves a good purpose please refrain from using them on the expressway. The car following you will not see your turn signals when you are switching lanes making it very difficult to judge your movements. I faced this while driving on the expressway yesterday.

[shineshine]

Originally Posted by X-Machine

One more,
Try pumping the brakes to slow down,rather than putting pressure on it by continously keeping the pedal pressed.It really helps.

X

For cars equipped with ABS, you need not pump up the pedals since it is done automatically by the car. Just drive as usual.

[adityapd]

just an off-hand question...In case of an esteem, does the wiper motor also control the windsheild washer fluid spray or is there a separate motor to spray the windscreen washing water ?

~A

[risga]

@Adityapad

Its always a separate motor (pump) fused to the bottom of the washer fluid bottle.

[Ajaybiz]

Nice writeup very useful for youngsters as most of the time during rainy season they tends to drive fast and splash water on two wheelers and padestrians.
My sincire appeal to all bhpians to follow these steps for safe driving.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

While I believe usage of hazard lights in heavy rains / fog serves a good purpose please refrain from using them on the expressway. The car following you will not see your turn signals when you are switching lanes making it very difficult to judge your movements. I faced this while driving on the expressway yesterday.

couldnt agree more, i had a very bad experience with a fiesta who had the rear fog lights ON in rain when i was traveling from krishnagiri to hosur at midnight, couple of weeks back.

the lights were so annoying, confusing (cant figure braking) and irritating with the water spray even at 100 mts distance, that i had to overtake him and drive in front of him.

please avoid rear fogs at the rear on an express way if your tail lights are good.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

the lights were so annoying, confusing (cant figure braking) and irritating with the water spray even at 100 mts distance, that i had to overtake him and drive in front of him.

Another good point is get good mudflaps which minimises the spray on vehicles following you. There are a few bikes which sport cut off rear mudflaps causing a huge muck on the car following it and the bikers do not realise that the muck gets sprayed on them too! If you are doing long distance driving at nights ensure that the sprayed muck gets cleaned time to time from the headlights at halts on the journey so that they give good light spread. Only the Skoda RS, Superb and L&K versions have a headlight washer (if there are others please list them).

[jassi]

jaggu I think the fog lights you are referring to are different from moralfibre's and our discussion on the blimking hazard lights. Nonetheless both of you make a good point !! I have never faced this before but I am sure on a highway it must be irritating and confusing if you cant make out breaklights or turn indicators because of this.

Will keep this in mind when I drive on highway/expressway in heavy rains

cheers,
j

[adityapd]

Originally Posted by risga

@Adityapad

Its always a separate motor (pump) fused to the bottom of the washer fluid bottle.

Risga,

are you sure about this ? the reason I am asking this is because last nite my wipers as well as the windscreen washer spray gave away in the middle of a heavy shower. I am just hoping that it is not the wiper motor which is the culprit but a blown fuse or something since the windscreen washer spray which is controlled from the same stalk ( as the wipers) is also not working.

Since you are saying there are 2 separate motors, I am somewhat relieved since the possibility of both the motors going bust at the same time is rare

~A

[Jaggu]

aditya sounds like a wiring or switch or a fuse issue and yes washer and wiper have separate motor

[normally_crazy]

If you have/get a lot of oil and grime on your wind screen, add a cap ful of vodka to your wind shield water tank. I read this somewhere , am not sure about this. Anyone care to clear it ? Or should I try it out ?

[1100D]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Another good point is get good mudflaps which minimises the spray on vehicles following you. There are a few bikes which sport cut off rear mudflaps causing a huge muck on the car following it and the bikers do not realise that the muck gets sprayed on them too! If you are doing long distance driving at nights ensure that the sprayed muck gets cleaned time to time from the headlights at halts on the journey so that they give good light spread. Only the Skoda RS, Superb and L&K versions have a headlight washer (if there are others please list them).

Mudflaps unless integrated in the cars wheel wells succeed in chanelising water thru the wheel wells rather than under the car (which prevents from the rusting bit and also keeping the car a bit cleaner). But to accelerate this additional mass of water from zero velocity to the speed of the car, some additional forces are implied on the car. This sometimes have an unsettling effect when you are at a high speed and you suddenly encounter a patch of water on one side of the car.

On our expressways the entire road reflects and it becomes very much impossible to detect untill the last moment before you are hitting a patch of water (say 1-2 inches depth). I have seen the behavior on one particular car with and without mudflaps on the same area at the same speed.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

If you have/get a lot of oil and grime on your wind screen, add a cap ful of vodka to your wind shield water tank. I read this somewhere , am not sure about this. Anyone care to clear it ? Or should I try it out ?

Correction: If you have a lot of grime oil on your windscreen or basically have visibility problems in rains have a bottle full of Vodka and drive. Dont waste that cap full of spirit on the windscreen .

I have heard rubbing a slice of Potato or tobacco also helps?