[rejoycjohn]

Its said that riding fast through a water log is very dangerous to both the riders life and car

- Water logs acts as a film or a layer between the road and tyre thread ,losing the grip and the slightest attempt to brake would leave you out of control and can cause a major disaster .
-Water log of depth / thickness of half a feet or more would act as a solid surface and hitting it on high speed can damage the underbody of the vehicle

@ abbhowmi , you had taken the car slowly through that 3 ft deep water that is the reason for you to get out of the place without any damage .
I doubt though , didnt the water enter inside your car - through the tiny holes between accelerator pedel / gear lever ?

[Ravveendrra]

The only way to deal with water on the road is to crawl through it in 1st. Preferably, wait for the vehicle in front to get to the other side and follow his path exactly.

Cheers,

[pranavt]

Hate people who splash water. It's incredibly rude and selfish. Frankly, it's usually the autorickshaw people who do this on purpose, whenever there's someone walking near the puddle. I've been there once. Unfortunately for the rickshaw driver, there was a signal about 10 metres ahead. Caught up to him made him apologise to all the people who had water splashed on them.

[abbhowmi]

Well who said water did not seep in, it did. All I said no damages.
There was an inch of water level inside the car. No there was no gushing in of water. The seepage was very slow. Once on the other side of the road I drove for 15 minutes and once parked, kept the engine on for 10 minutes more, just to make sure I shut the engine once all the water is dried up.

By the way guys I dont personally like to splash water neither do I endorse it. But what I mentioned is an experience at a 3 feet high water (maybe a bit less), where you do not have any chance of splshing, coz you are creating waves

Originally Posted by rejoycjohn

@ abbhowmi , you had taken the car slowly through that 3 ft deep water that is the reason for you to get out of the place without any damage .
I doubt though , didnt the water enter inside your car - through the tiny holes between accelerator pedel / gear lever ?

[Count]

At least have ABS before you try driving through water puddles at high speed(in case you need to brake)... Wont stop the hydroplaning though. In all, to be avoided when ever possible.

[abhinav.s]

This is exactly what came to my mind after reading the title of the thread. And this is the same reason why i try and avoid puddles as much as possible.

Originally Posted by kannan666

The other reason to avoid stagnant rain water would be the fact that you do not know how deep the pot hole / crater etc. would be ! There might even be an open manhole for all you know !

[McLaren Rulez]

The main danger is aquaplaning or unknown road conditions. But despite that I'll be the first to admit that there's is an inexplicable pleasure in driving through shallow water. Can't explain it but I feel it every time it rains.

[amikacin]

Had once a nasty experience with a rude car driver splashing mud to the passerbyes.
Was on the way to college in morning on bike about five yrs back and an alto driven by a young boy drenched me
and some other two wheelers on the way.

The inconvenience caused made me vow never to do such a thing with my car.
Every time I encounter a puddle now, I try to avoid the same and am extra conscious for the pedestrians.
Two seconds of thrill is not worth all the trouble that can happen.


Another nasty experience we had in Jaipur about 13yrs back with our Maruti800.
There was a heavy downpour and the streets were waterlogged. We left our relatively safer parking and attempted to cross the market in that condition.
Result: the car stalled midway and water entered from under the door openings.
The car was pushed out by three lads and we later proceeded onwards with the car filled with water. It was a lesson learned the hard way.

[mooza]

With so much technology, I am sure automobile designers can design an attachment or guard to prevent water from spraying outwards towards pedestrians and other motorists.

While developed countries do not need this (on account of their excellent drainage systems), such modifications are essential in India for sure. Hope Indian automobile designers (courtesy Tata, Mahindra, Bajaj et al) do something on this. Cheers, Mohit

[hummingbird]

In my opinion it is never 100% safe to go through puddles, as the murky water in the puddle could have nasty surprises, including sharp debries, projections that could hurt the car, or worse still, an OPEN MANHOLE, which would mean you lose much of the wheel that goes in. Besides, you get into further mess to extricate your car.

Regarding ventilation mode: Mostly it will be very humid during the period when there are puddles on the road. Having ventilation put on recirculation mode builds up humidity and results in condensation on the windshields and window panes. So the ventilation mode should be blower ON, with the blast of air directed at the windshield. In severe conditions, probably it will be needed to switch ON the AC to extract excess humidity from the air inside the cabin.

[VeeTee]

I was driving from Chennai to Bangalore on 30th April (Friday) night. I started quite late (about 9.30 PM). I encountered quite a bit of rain from Kanchi onwards. There were puddles of water on the road which would cause a thud when you went over it. I reached Shoolagiri (near Hosur) by about 1.45 AM. I was on the left lane doing about 70 km/hr and there was a slight drizzle. I was along a curve and next moment the car was caught in a huge drain of rain water. There was enough water to pull my car to the left and the front wheels went over a ditch and got stuck.
I tried reversing the car (Palio 1.2) , but the wheels were stuck in the ditch. The water started entering the front portion of the cabin. Once, I opened the door water gushed in and filled up until the seat level. I put on the hazard lights walked through the knee-deep water and got out. I didn't have any of the towing service numbers. I called up my wife and told her about the situation. She and her cousin decided to drive from Bangalore to meet me and also they called the towing service. They came to the spot by about 3.30 AM and we had to wait until about 5.00 AM for the tow truck to come. The tow truck pulled the car out of the ditch.
The car thankfully didn't have any external damage (except for minor scratches on the right fender) and the wheels seem to be fine. The car started and starting emitting a huge shower of water from the exhaust. Once, all the water was spewed from the exhaust white smoke started appearing and then the engine died. It refused to start after that.
I asked the towing guy to take the vehicle to the Concorde motors on Mysore road (since it is close to my house). The car was towed to Concorde by 8.00 AM. Since it was May day, the dealership was closed. They would attend to it on on Monday (today). I had to leave the car there and then go home. Thankfully, there was no physical injury to me.
I spoke to Concorde motors guy today and he mentioned water has entered the fuel tank, engine compartment. He said that the engine oil, fuel, power steering fluid, brake fluid have to be changed since there was water in the engine compartment. The initial estimate including cleaning up the interior and the dash board is about 30k.

Please be careful while driving in the rain.


Satish

[DRC]

Call me stupid! I love wading through the puddles. I have not gotten into trouble yet.

One incedent is worth mentioning.
Once I drove through a huge puddle on NH-4 near Chitradurga. It was night about 10:00PM, in about 80km/h speed. It was fun. After I reached my destination, I discovered, the force of water had ripped the OEM wheel cover into pieces. Trust me they are very strong to break.
I got an excuse to switch to alloys

[pradipk]

It depends. I prefer avoiding them but some times when the road is known (daily drive to office), there's little water AND if mood ignites- just splash water .

[vinaydas]

i lost the pleasure of driving through puddles when i started personally washing my cars .

[vinu_h]

I would slow down to reduce the splash, both on my car and others, if and when I encounter a puddle of water. Although, most drivers endanger themselves and others when they choose to make a risky jerk around the puddle of water.