Forget eating a McFlurry at the wheel, one of the most dangerous things you can do as a driver is hit the road barefoot and in a blindfold. Fortunately, that’s the sort of highly illegal behaviour that’ll get you off the road and behind bars faster than downloading seven seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race off Pirate Bay. Driving in wet weather on the other hand, is not something that’ll get you thrown in the back of a divvy van, however it can be equally as dangerous.
Here are eight hot tips that’ll make sure you and your late-night BBQ chicken pizza make it home in one piece next time the weather takes a turn for the worse.
- Slow the heck down. This may seem like an especially obvious wet weather tip, but that doesn’t stop some people cutting laps of the Bolte Bridge like it’s the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. Do yourself and everyone else on the road a favour by dropping your speed.
- Allow for more travel time. As tempting as it is to prove Google Maps’ time estimate wrong, if raindrops keep falling on your windscreen, then you need to call Mr Miyagi and let them know you’ll be late for your 7pm booking.
- Turn your headlights on. The best thing you can do for other drivers on the road is turn your headlights on. The worse thing you can do is put your high beams on. Don’t get them confused, sometimes it can be the difference between life and copping a cricket bat to the windscreen at the next set of lights.
- Maintain a safe distance from other vehicles. Wet conditions can make driving unpredictable, not just for you but for everyone else on the road. For this reason, you can’t just assume everyone behind the wheel is Lewis Hamilton in a state-of-the-art Mercedes C-Class, so you should double the space between you and the car in front to give yourself extra response time.
- Avoid puddles. Puddles are your frenemy. They may look glam in Hollywood chick flicks when you’re stepping through them in a pair of Louis Vuitton pumps, but on the road puddles are just pools of the great unknown and are just begging to mess with your wheel alignment.
- Brake earlier and easier than normal. Do your insurance premium a favour and brake as quickly and as safely as you can if you see a potential road hazard. Even if you car’s basically a seatbelt on wheels, like the Mercedes M-Class, you can’t expect the same response time you would in normal conditions.
- Don’t use cruise control. It’s a one-way ticket to hydroplaning your way off the road and into a ditch. Keep control of your speed and you’ll have greater control over your life.
- Stop. If the rain’s so thick you can’t even see the lines on the road – stop. Order UberEATS to the curb and wait it out. It’s not worth your life.
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