How to Overcome Hydroplaning While Driving a Vehicle?
When you drive your car on roads, different factors affect the stability of tyres. These factors include weather, Texture of road surface, substances on roads, and road debris.
If we talk about weather, rainy and snowy conditions are really dangerous for car drivers. These conditions make the road surface slippery. As a result, your Car Tyres Reading slip on roads because of low grip and traction.
You can drive your car safely in rainy or snowy conditions if you follow traffic rules and regulations. Moreover, buying a set of appropriate tyres is also essential to reduce risk factors.
In this blog, we will talk about two dangerous conditions hydroplaning and slush planing.
Hydroplaning generally takes place on wet roads and slush planing is possible when the road surface is covered with snow and slush.
What is aquaplaning?
This condition occurs when your car tyres run on standing water. Due to the layer of water, tyres lose contact with the road surface and start to skid on the wet road. As a result, the car driver loses control of the vehicle for a couple of seconds. Anything is possible in these moments because drivers cannot handle the steering wheel well due to the inefficiency of car tyres.
Factors that affect hydroplaning
If you want to decrease the chances of hydroplaning, you must consider the following factors:
Height of water:
If you observe standing water on the road in rainy conditions, avoid it because an area with standing water is highly likely to cause hydroplaning.
Substances on the road:
Water, fuel, and mud make the road surface extremely slippery. This combination is extremely dangerous because of insufficient friction.
Speed of the vehicle:
When tyres move slowly on roads, they have sufficient time to displace extra water. In other words, speed decreases the ability of tyres to keep extra water away from their body. As a result, high speed creates ideal conditions for hydroplaning.
Air pressure:
Experts do not recommend driving a vehicle on wet roads with the wrong air pressure. Low air pressure invite more water to the body of car tyres due to a larger contact area. As a result, tyres with low air pressure are more likely to face hydroplaning. Similarly, high pressure is also not good in wet conditions due to insufficient grip and traction.
Tread pattern and tread depth:
Rain-friendly tyres come with a suitable tread pattern that can scatter extra water to reduce the chances of hydroplaning. Moreover, they come with optimum tread depth as well to keep rainwater away from their body.
What is slush planing?
Slush planing is a more dangerous phenomenon than aquaplaning. In this condition, slush creates a layer between the tyre and the road surface. As a result, tyres become unable to hold the road surface properly and skid on the snowy road.
Aquaplaning generally takes place at the speed of 70 to 80km/h. On the other hand, slush planing is possible at a speed of 50 to 60 km/h. As you see, slush planing may take place at a slower speed on a snowy road surface. Therefore, this condition is more deadly than hydroplaning.
Just like hydroplaning, slush planing occurs when tyres are unable to clean their tread constantly. As a result, tread blocks are filled with slush to cause slush planing.
Factors that affect slush planing
Like hydroplaning, multiple factors decrease or increase the chances of slush planing.
Have a look at these factors!
Your car may skid on a snowy surface due to the following factors:
Temperature:
You must consider the temperature of your place in snowy road conditions. Tyres become hard in cold conditions. As a result, they become unable to hold the road surface efficiently. This condition is ideal for slush planing if your tyres are unable to displace extra snow and slush.
Air pressure:
If you want your tyres to maintain proper grip and traction on snowy roads, you must check air pressure regularly. Wrong air pressure reduces the ability of car tyres to maintain optimum contact area. As a result, tyres may skid on the snowy surface at any time.
Tread pattern and tread depth:
Drivers generally need winter tyres on snowy roads. These tyres come with a deeper tread construction and more sipes to improve their gripping power. Moreover, these tyres scatter slush well to keep their body dry on a snowy road.
Speed of the vehicle:
As mentioned above, slush planning may take place at a slower speed in comparison with hydroplaning. Therefore, you must drive your car slowly in cold months.
How to avoid hydroplaning and slush planing?
You can reduce the possibility of hydroplaning and slush planing with the help of the following considerations:
Buy suitable tyres:
Buy rain-friendly tyres to cope with unfavorable conditions of the rainy season. Your tyres must be able to scatter extra water with an optimum tread pattern and tread depth.
Similarly, buy winter tyres in the winter season to decrease the possibility of slush planing. Winter tyres have a suitable tread pattern and appropriate tread depth to keep their bodies dry on a snowy road.
Drive your car slowly:
As you see, speed is a crucial factor for both hydroplaning and slush planing. Therefore, you must drive your vehicle slowly on standing water and mounds of slush.
Check air pressure:
Your tyres make proper grip and traction on varied road surfaces with the help of correct air pressure. Therefore, checking air pressure is unavoidable on wet or snowy roads.
Keep your tyres healthy:
Check your Tyres in Reading regularly because issues like tread wear and cracks reduce the strength of car tyres. As a result, they do not perform well in unfavorable driving conditions.
