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-   -   Safe Driving in the Rains (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/41953-safe-driving-rains-18.html)

This comes from personal experience - twice!

When it rains, 2-wheelers slip left, right and centre. Especially the clowns who love changing lanes.

So, if you're driving on a road with hordes of 2-wheelers around, try to keep it slow and as much distance from the 2-wheelers. You wouldn't want to make things worse for the rider and bad for yourself.

It so happened to me twice that the 2-wheeler in front me skid and fell and I stopped inches before it - only after a lot of tyre-screeching.

So, although this advice is for the rider's safety, it's also for your convenience.

It rained in B'lore quite heavily yesterday and as expected, majority roads were flooded.

Now I saw a Reva stranded in the middle of a Olympics-size pool of water. Are they safe (considering they are battery operated and tiny in size - hence, close to water) when that exposed to water?

Excellent compilation! Hats off!

I always use the hazard lights when I drive during monsoon in Kannur (Kerala). It's a good idea to use the headlights in low beam combined with the hazard lights as the visibility drastically reduces when it rains heavily.

I would advise against using hazard lights. You never know whether the car is really a hazard or just another hazard - the former refers to a vehicle that's stranded, and the latter for somebody who's just using the hazards because everyone else uses it, without thinking about the purpose of hazards (a lot of them in our God's own country believe that the hazards are meant to be used to indicate going straight).

Blinking bright orange lights are not a a soothing sight for the eyes while driving in the rains. The tail lamps (or rear fogs if available) would suffice to indicate the presence of our vehicle. Plus, there's always the possibility of forgetting to turn off the hazards when you need to use the indicator. Imagine what would happen if you were to turn right.

It is not a good idea to use the hazard lights during rain. It might confuse the hell out of others! Anyways, this issue has been discussed time and again, across threads. Please read up a few of them for very logical reasons as to why this should not be done.

The observation is based on my experience while driving through the Mananthavady ghats. It was raining heavily and was very foggy as well, I would have missed the bus coming in the opposite direction if the guy hadn't switched on his hazard lights. I guess it was helpful to me.

We are experiencing medium to heavy rains in Goa. While driving I have noticed that general public and as usual taxiwallas are driving very fast even when visibility is very less even during the daytime. I simply fail to understand why?
The use of hazard lights is getting dangerous day by day. I see people going on NHs during rains at 60-80 with hazard lights flashing continuously even during day time. Disaster waiting to happen.

Water on roads that have been dry for a long time is particularly dangerous. As ever, the drivers of Chennai have never heard of any wet-surface driving technique being different to dry.

One unsafe aspect I have seen in the city driving (in Thane atleast) is that people do drive the vehicles in their normal speeds during medium to heavy rains but suddenly screech when they see a pothole or a rough road surface. This puts the following vehicles in danger as they too have to stop abruptly. Add to this the hazard lights on fad has reached the city limits too. Why cant they maintain lesser speeds during heavy rains atleast instead of putting the hazard lights on?

I have seen upteem no of times near the flyovers being constructed in Thane, People are not able to guage the debris and the uneven road surface and come to an almost halt when they see one.:Frustrati:Frustrati

Number one necessity of wet-road driving, perhaps even more important than restricting speed: Keep More Distance From Vehicle In Front.

We must not forget: it's our fault if we hit it.

First and foremost before the monsoon sets in I always get a new set of wiper blades for my car.

Try and keep soap water in the the windscreen washer than plain water.

I have drove my hatch in knee deep water and in scary rain thankfully made out of it but for once when I had to park it almost in the middle of a by-lane and walk the rest distance.
(Avoid parking near the pavement when its flooded)

When its heavy rains always take the road you are used to.

Make sure your car is not tinted opaque (Have had tough times with friends car driving with the windows open in heavy rains just to make sure I don't kill anyone)

If on the highway in heavy rain it is ok to use the hazard light thereby increasing your visibility on the road. (I have been in one and know how scary it is for not been spotted by a fellow driver before he bumps us)

Once As a kid took a taxi on which the driver used toothpaste and news paper rub after that he did not even use the wiper. Or was it dry soap?
I fail to recollect. Anyone ?

Agree with you Visaster. Its always safe to take the road that you are used to. You at least have fair idea of where the turns are, the bad patches etc.

I am not quite sure if it is possible to drive without wiper but toothpaste is one of the better cleansing agents.

Also its good to have below:
1. An umbrella inside the car.
2. Functional mudflaps
3. A glass cleaner , some thick tissue papers and a clean cloth. I always prefer a separate cloth for cleaning windows.

Toothpaste is creme cleaner for the teeth. It is a very mid abrasive. Those who have the patience have been known to use it to remove scratches from glass.

Visibility in the rains at night for dark cars is seriously reduced. I have been at the receiving end on two occasions when my black OHC was banged because the drivers could not spot me. I heard that there are reflective stickers which reflect white light but otherwise stay black and thus hidden. This can be a boon to owners of dark colored cars. Any pointers where these reflective tapes can be sourced from?

Any shop where they do stickering jobs and vinyl pastings, would have these stickers. I say this because each time I have been to one of these shops for my bike or car, I have noticed large rolls of green reflective stickers stocked there. I believe they are used for eye catching stickers.. They should serve your purpose quite well.. :thumbs up