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What to do if your Car Hydroplanes

What is hydroplaning? (It sounds like a new extreme sport.) When you are driving in wet conditions your tires must displace whatever water is present beneath them before they can grip the road surface. This is why passenger vehicle tires have a tread instead of a smooth rubber design. As they rotate, any moisture present gets pressed into the grooves between the rubber patches so those rubber patches can contact the tarmac. If however, a vehicle is driven too quickly on a wet surface the water cannot be moved out of the way fast enough and the rubber patches of the tire will not be able to contact the underlying surface. Your vehicle will actually be supported by the water and not be in contact with the road! This condition is called hydroplaning.

Why is hydroplaning a problem? When a tire grips the road surface it keeps the car under control using friction. This is why the car proceeds in the direction the tire is rotating. As soon as contact with the road surface is lost, so is the friction used to control the vehicle. At that point, it's like driving on ice. Your car may move in any direction without regard to wheel rotation, thus making it difficult or even impossible to maneuver your vehicle.

An attentive driver can feel the point at which the vehicle begins to hydroplane. It will move from side to side without any input from the steering wheel. Also, the vehicle will respond sluggishly or not at all to small steering corrections to keep it headed down the middle of the lane.

When you feel your vehicle start to hydroplane, the same techniques apply as if you had encountered a patch of ice. The main rule being: Do not make any sudden changes in speed or direction. Immediate loss of control will be the result if you do. Don't panic. Your vehicle should continue in the direction it is moving even though it has temporarily lost its grip with the road.

The reason you are hydroplaning is because you are over driving your vehicles capabilities for the present conditions. To regain control, slowly reduce the pressure on the accelerator. Do not remove your foot from it completely. This will cause the driven wheels on the vehicle to slow down too quickly and make maintaining control difficult. Reduce the pressure just enough for the vehicle to slowly decelerate. As you slow down, your tires will regain their grip on the road and your car will once again be under your guidance.

The above technique assumes you are on a straight road and

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