When driving through thunderstorms, you will notice at least a few challenges, one of them is the grip and that the car tends to hydroplane and the challenge the wipers have to clear the windshield from water. Some of the measures to overcome these challenges are to lower your speed, to have high quality car tires that are designed to prevent hydroplaning and you need to have wiper blades that are in good condition, so that they effectively remove the water from the windshield. The tires should be high quality all-season tires that have a proven track record for preventing hydroplaning.
Hydroplaning is one of the major reasons for accidents during thunderstorms, so this is a phenomenon that you need to be careful with. It happens when the tires lose contact with the road surface, as it is not able to push away the water that’s on the road surface. Special designs in the tread has improved the way that water is stored and channeled away through the thread and to the sides, also ways that the tread can hold water while remaining in contact. Another new one is the polished grooves, which reduces the friction and increases the water flow. The water flow is heavily dependent on the size of the grooves, so worn out tires perform substantially worse when it comes to hydroplaning.
When the tires lose contact and will start gliding on the water film created between the tire and the road, you lose control. You lose the friction against the road and you are now just floating on water. When this happens accidents can occur. People tend panic when they lose control and start turning the steering wheel so when they regain contact with the road again, the sudden change of direction due to steering when movements, can cause major accidents.
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