Tips for Driving in Heavy Rain

Have you ever driven under really heavy rain in which the visibility was just up to a car or two in front of you? This is quite a dangerous situation and personally, it is a really tough challenge. Your awareness level should be at the maximum. Drive slowly but be aware of your surroundings. Are you still on the road? Is there a car in front of you or on your side? Are you going the right direction? Let me share some tips in driving under really heavy rains.

First of all, try to eliminate all distractions. Turn your radio, LCDs or any unnecessary electrical device off. If you have passengers with you, it's perfectly fine to ask for assistance in looking around the immediate area for hazards or other cars. Turn on your lights. This is very important since the visibility under heavy rain is quite low. This will alert other cars, both at the front and at the back that you are there. Turn on your hazard lights and turn your headlights to high beam. If you have fog lights, that would be good as well.

The worst thing you can do while driving under heavy rains is to drive fast. Based on experience you should not exceed 20 miles per hour. First of all, the road will be very slippery. There could be isolated flooding on the road thus, there's a higher chance of hydroplaning and skidding. Also, if your brakes get wet, your braking distance may be compromised so you better slow down.

Driving faster will increase the risk of hitting the car in front of you. Most drivers would instinctively slow down under this situation so be aware of the common speed of the cars around you and follow suit. Help each other out. Blow your horns if needed. When there's low visibility, take advantage of auditory signals.

If visibility is near zero and you can only see the car in front of you if there's a good place to pull over then do so. I've actually thought about this but if you pull just over to the side of the road, it's still almost as dangerous as driving slowly. However, if you are having a very difficult time and cannot focus anymore due to the heavy rain, do not force it and just pull over. Make sure you're far from the road. If you can pull over into a driveway then I would suggest that you do.

I've driven under heavy rains on several occasions. However, I won't forget one instance when we were traveling on an expressway. The rain was too bad and we can only see about 2 to 3 cars in front. I was on high beam and was only driving around 20 miles per hour and so did the other cars. What was on our mind was not to reach the destination quickly but how to safely traverse the road. I continued to drive through the rain and after 10 minutes, the rain stopped and we were able to reach our destination shortly after that. Just stay calm, focus and drive slowly.