Although nearing its end, winter continues to slowly assert itself across the country as cold and wet conditions relieve the blistering summer heat.
While some revel in the wintery conditions to snuggle up and binge watch series, it is the total opposite for those that have to be on the roads. There’s something of a floating joke that locals often lose their ability to drive when the rain starts falling.
It could be attributed to people not seeing the paint markings in the road clearly enough or simply the actions of another driver that causes a domino effect on the rest. The difference in driving behavior has to adjust literally overnight.
Where drivers once never had to make use of wiperblades, contend with slippery pedals and use the heater, those things are now incorporated into daily driving for the next couple of months. In addition, tyres are also bound to be harder if a particular vehicle has been standing for an extended period of time.
Tips to consider
Besides the rain, winter also brings with it flooding, fog and mist and strong winds, even snow in some parts of the country. Stronger gale force winds can be especially dangerous to light motorcycles and small compact cars currently on sale like the Renault Kwid or Datsun GO.
Driving in adverse weather usually takes longer and is more stressful on the person behind the wheel. Not allowing enough time to reach your destination will only increase your stress levels and that could affect your driving as well.
Gumtree lists a few driving tips to keep in mind and to better navigate wet surfaces:
Stay in your lane
The last thing you would want to be doing during a heavy downpour is moving from one lane to another because visibility is already extremely limited. To best protect yourself, staying in one lane throughout your journey or atleast until your next turnoff, is the safest option in that case.
Drive slower
Traction is limited in wet conditions and when combined with speed, can cause a car to aquaplane or fishtail. It is vital to check the condition of a car's tyres and that it has sufficient tread depth left.
It is also worth having your lower control arm and its bushes checked because worn bushes, wet surfaces and hard braking is not a good combination. Under hard braking with worn control arm bushes, this effect can cause the wheel to slide quicker than normal. This is particularly dangerous on slippery surfaces where braking distance and traction is drastically reduced.
Keep your lights on
Visibility is vital from behind the wheel. One’s eyes can only see things up until a certain distance – headlights provide that extra set of eyes. It is important to make sure bulbs – in both the fog and headlights – are in working order.
Eyes on the road
This goes without saying – especially when the weather is less than favourable. Someone driving in front of you might apply brakes suddenly, which requires fast reactions in order to prevent a rear-end crash. Also, rear brake light bulbs have a tendency to fuse so, if a car driving in front of you might look as if it is driving, it could be slowing down without letting the driver behind know.
While some revel in the wintery conditions to snuggle up and binge watch series, it is the total opposite for those that have to be on the roads. There’s something of a floating joke that locals often lose their ability to drive when the rain starts falling.
It could be attributed to people not seeing the paint markings in the road clearly enough or simply the actions of another driver that causes a domino effect on the rest. The difference in driving behavior has to adjust literally overnight.
Where drivers once never had to make use of wiperblades, contend with slippery pedals and use the heater, those things are now incorporated into daily driving for the next couple of months. In addition, tyres are also bound to be harder if a particular vehicle has been standing for an extended period of time.
Tips to consider
Besides the rain, winter also brings with it flooding, fog and mist and strong winds, even snow in some parts of the country. Stronger gale force winds can be especially dangerous to light motorcycles and small compact cars currently on sale like the Renault Kwid or Datsun GO.
Driving in adverse weather usually takes longer and is more stressful on the person behind the wheel. Not allowing enough time to reach your destination will only increase your stress levels and that could affect your driving as well.
Gumtree lists a few driving tips to keep in mind and to better navigate wet surfaces:
Stay in your lane
The last thing you would want to be doing during a heavy downpour is moving from one lane to another because visibility is already extremely limited. To best protect yourself, staying in one lane throughout your journey or atleast until your next turnoff, is the safest option in that case.
Drive slower
Traction is limited in wet conditions and when combined with speed, can cause a car to aquaplane or fishtail. It is vital to check the condition of a car's tyres and that it has sufficient tread depth left.
It is also worth having your lower control arm and its bushes checked because worn bushes, wet surfaces and hard braking is not a good combination. Under hard braking with worn control arm bushes, this effect can cause the wheel to slide quicker than normal. This is particularly dangerous on slippery surfaces where braking distance and traction is drastically reduced.
Keep your lights on
Visibility is vital from behind the wheel. One’s eyes can only see things up until a certain distance – headlights provide that extra set of eyes. It is important to make sure bulbs – in both the fog and headlights – are in working order.
Eyes on the road
This goes without saying – especially when the weather is less than favourable. Someone driving in front of you might apply brakes suddenly, which requires fast reactions in order to prevent a rear-end crash. Also, rear brake light bulbs have a tendency to fuse so, if a car driving in front of you might look as if it is driving, it could be slowing down without letting the driver behind know.
