What is Hydroplaning?
Hydroplaning, also known as aquaplaning, is when standing water causes your tires to lose contact with the road. According to Car and Driver, the grooves in your tires act like small aqueducts. When the tires hit the road, they are able to pump the water away very quickly. They state “that, at 50 mph, the average new tire can disperse nearly eight gallons of water per second”.
If your tire is not able to remove the water quick enough, then where the tire touches the road will just be touching water, “like water skis climbing on the surface of the lake”. When this happen, you will “feel the steering wheel go light in your hands”.
How to Avoid Hydroplaning?
There are some ways to prevent hydroplaning. One of those ways is checking your tire’s tread depth. When the tire’s grooves are deeper, then they pump away more water. Most new tires are at 11/32 of an inch, and when they get to 2/32 of an inch, you are in more danger of hydroplaning. At this point, you should get your tires replaced. You can check this by seeing if the grooves on your tires have faded or the wear bars showing.
You can also show the tread depth by taking a penny and put it in “each of the circumferential grooves with the top of Lincoln’s head pointed toward the tire. If a groove doesn’t overlap President Lincoln’s head, your tires are at or below the legal minimum tread depth”. Tires can also wear out unevenly, so you should check all of the grooves. If you rotate your tires, this can cause the wear to be more even.
How to Minimize Your Hydroplaning Chances?
Some of the other ways that you can minimize your chances of hydroplaning is by maintaining “proper tire pressure and keep[ing] your vehicle’s speed appropriate to conditions on wet roads”. Both under-inflated and over-inflated tires can increase your chances of hydroplaning. Driving fast can also increase your chances to hydroplane. It is best for you to slow down and avoid standing water. A few other things to watch for are dips in the road, and avoid cruise control. Also “driving immediately after a rainstorm can be dangerous because oils within the asphalt can bead up on the road surface”.
What to do if Your Car Hydroplanes?
If your car and tires are in a good condition, and you’re not speeding, then when you start to hydroplane, you should be able to ride out the hydroplaning until you get to a part of the road without standing water. When you first start to hydroplane, “let off the throttle and attempt to steer in the direction you want to travel as gently as possible.” Any jerky movement and slamming on brakes might cause your vehicle to skid. If you can’t get any movement with gentle steering, then hold still for a minute, and wait for the tires to find traction.
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