Driving in the rain: when is it most dangerous?

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Car Accidents

5/20/2010
Allen W.
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Driving in the rain: when is it most dangerous?

It's common sense to take more precautions while driving in the rain, but do you know when rain-covered roads are most dangerous?

The answer: immediately after it starts raining.

The reason for this is simple. Even if you're not able to see it, cars and trucks leave a thin layer of hazardous material on the roads that consists of tire residue, oils and grease. When it first starts to rain, the water breaks these particles apart, leaving a very slick coating on the road that results in dangerous, slippery conditions, often causing car accidents.

After it’s been raining a while, conditions tend to improve, as the oil is "washed" away. Until it is, however, puddles can accumulate, and combined with compromised visibility, create additional hazards.

Police as well as auto clubs advocate using extreme caution when it starts to rain, especially if it follows a dry spell. The best advice is to allow yourself plenty of time to get to your destination, allow plenty of stopping distance between yourself and the car ahead of you, turn your headlights on, and if conditions dictate, pull off the road somehwere safe and wait it out. Getting somehwere a few minutes earlier isn't worth putting lives at risk.

Labels: car accidents driving in the rain