Driving in the rain
Discussion
Had a long drive yesterday in pretty fowl weather. The A90 in particular suffered from high winds and lots of surface water, meaning that overtaking Wagon's left you virtually blind able to see the offside kerb only. I tried a couple, then decided it was not my day to commit to suicide, so settled in behind them.
Yet there were streams of cars overtaking. You could see by the reaction that they were really struggling to see anything, but on they plough? Why? Are are road standards really that bad that people are happy to be blind for 5 - 10 seconds...
It did go wrong for someone who drifted too close to the barrier and had to make a rush to the hard shoulder afterwards.
Then further down on the M74 - a quiet 3 lane motorway. Similar issues overtaking lorries - easily avoided by taking Lane 3. Not much traffic so why would you not? Only two of us were doing this to increase our visibility.
Is it me?
Yet there were streams of cars overtaking. You could see by the reaction that they were really struggling to see anything, but on they plough? Why? Are are road standards really that bad that people are happy to be blind for 5 - 10 seconds...
It did go wrong for someone who drifted too close to the barrier and had to make a rush to the hard shoulder afterwards.
Then further down on the M74 - a quiet 3 lane motorway. Similar issues overtaking lorries - easily avoided by taking Lane 3. Not much traffic so why would you not? Only two of us were doing this to increase our visibility.
Is it me?
joewilliams said:
If I can see a clear spot in front of the lorries, I'd rather be there than hanging around behind them. I wouldn't risk being blind for a few seconds to do it though.
The way the wind was blowing visibility was fine behind. The water was going off in sheets to the side though...
I had one on Monday morning on the M6 - really bad spray/rain and I was happily sat with cruise at 70(+-5mph). Spray was bad, but put wipers on fast, scoot past trucks where you could see nothing else was in the 2nd lane, pull back in, no hassle. If I felt the spray was too bad, or couldn't be sure what was alongside/in front of the truck, I'd sit back and wait for a clearer patch. I'm on my way to work, why the hell would I want to kill myself for that?
Cue a repmobile doing 80+ start to pass me then hit the brakes presumably as the spray from my car blanked his windscreen. Sped up again, came to pass a lorry, brakes on again. I could see this going on for quite a way before he disappeared into the gloom.
Surely that must have been a tense and stressful drive, what's the point?
Cue a repmobile doing 80+ start to pass me then hit the brakes presumably as the spray from my car blanked his windscreen. Sped up again, came to pass a lorry, brakes on again. I could see this going on for quite a way before he disappeared into the gloom.
Surely that must have been a tense and stressful drive, what's the point?
AnimalMkIV said:
I had one on Monday morning on the M6 - really bad spray/rain and I was happily sat with cruise at 70(+-5mph). Spray was bad, but put wipers on fast, scoot past trucks where you could see nothing else was in the 2nd lane, pull back in, no hassle. If I felt the spray was too bad, or couldn't be sure what was alongside/in front of the truck, I'd sit back and wait for a clearer patch. I'm on my way to work, why the hell would I want to kill myself for that?
Cue a repmobile doing 80+ start to pass me then hit the brakes presumably as the spray from my car blanked his windscreen. Sped up again, came to pass a lorry, brakes on again. I could see this going on for quite a way before he disappeared into the gloom.
Surely that must have been a tense and stressful drive, what's the point?
Because the world is full of idiots who MUST get to the front of the queue.Cue a repmobile doing 80+ start to pass me then hit the brakes presumably as the spray from my car blanked his windscreen. Sped up again, came to pass a lorry, brakes on again. I could see this going on for quite a way before he disappeared into the gloom.
Surely that must have been a tense and stressful drive, what's the point?
AnimalMkIV said:
I had one on Monday morning on the M6 - really bad spray/rain and I was happily sat with cruise at 70(+-5mph). Spray was bad, but put wipers on fast, scoot past trucks where you could see nothing else was in the 2nd lane, pull back in, no hassle. If I felt the spray was too bad, or couldn't be sure what was alongside/in front of the truck, I'd sit back and wait for a clearer patch. I'm on my way to work, why the hell would I want to kill myself for that?
Cue a repmobile doing 80+ start to pass me then hit the brakes presumably as the spray from my car blanked his windscreen. Sped up again, came to pass a lorry, brakes on again. I could see this going on for quite a way before he disappeared into the gloom.
Surely that must have been a tense and stressful drive, what's the point?
It is inadvisable to use cruise control in heavy rain / very wet/slippery conditions.Cue a repmobile doing 80+ start to pass me then hit the brakes presumably as the spray from my car blanked his windscreen. Sped up again, came to pass a lorry, brakes on again. I could see this going on for quite a way before he disappeared into the gloom.
Surely that must have been a tense and stressful drive, what's the point?
surveyor said:
Had a long drive yesterday in pretty fowl weather. The A90 in particular suffered from high winds and lots of surface water, meaning that overtaking Wagon's left you virtually blind able to see the offside kerb only. I tried a couple, then decided it was not my day to commit to suicide, so settled in behind them.
Yet there were streams of cars overtaking. You could see by the reaction that they were really struggling to see anything, but on they plough? Why? Are are road standards really that bad that people are happy to be blind for 5 - 10 seconds...
It did go wrong for someone who drifted too close to the barrier and had to make a rush to the hard shoulder afterwards.
Then further down on the M74 - a quiet 3 lane motorway. Similar issues overtaking lorries - easily avoided by taking Lane 3. Not much traffic so why would you not? Only two of us were doing this to increase our visibility.
Is it me?
Also applicable when dry when traffic levels dictate.Yet there were streams of cars overtaking. You could see by the reaction that they were really struggling to see anything, but on they plough? Why? Are are road standards really that bad that people are happy to be blind for 5 - 10 seconds...
It did go wrong for someone who drifted too close to the barrier and had to make a rush to the hard shoulder afterwards.
Then further down on the M74 - a quiet 3 lane motorway. Similar issues overtaking lorries - easily avoided by taking Lane 3. Not much traffic so why would you not? Only two of us were doing this to increase our visibility.
Is it me?
Edited by Laurel Green on Friday 21st December 11:59
ryanMIL said:
Cliftonite said:
It is inadvisable to use cruise control in heavy rain / very wet/slippery conditions.
Why this? Cliftonite said:
See here (for starters, to get a flavour/flavor(sic)) : http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp
Very interesting! I'll heed this advice in the future, had never crossed my mind that it might be a danger.The point they make about disengaging the cruise control by jumping on the breaks isn't great advice though - probably not the best thing to do when you're aquaplaning!
ryanMIL said:
Cliftonite said:
See here (for starters, to get a flavour/flavor(sic)) : http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp
Very interesting! I'll heed this advice in the future, had never crossed my mind that it might be a danger.The point they make about disengaging the cruise control by jumping on the breaks isn't great advice though - probably not the best thing to do when you're aquaplaning!
Last night on the A1 - plenty of lorries combined with heavy spray-like rain made the conditions pretty tense. To be fair the lorries were being sensible instead of the usual snail racing you get on that road, but indeed there were so many people streaming along at speeds that were not sensible.
However I feel the biggest issue in those conditions is not necessarily speed but maintaining a sensible gap to the car in front. Too many drivers seem to forget the need to adjust in such conditions, there was some frankly suicidal tailgating going on.
In my case it was too much, especially with a passenger in the car, so I plodded along at lorry speeds and let everyone else do the crazy stuff
However I feel the biggest issue in those conditions is not necessarily speed but maintaining a sensible gap to the car in front. Too many drivers seem to forget the need to adjust in such conditions, there was some frankly suicidal tailgating going on.
In my case it was too much, especially with a passenger in the car, so I plodded along at lorry speeds and let everyone else do the crazy stuff
ryanMIL said:
Cliftonite said:
See here (for starters, to get a flavour/flavor(sic)) : http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp
Very interesting! I'll heed this advice in the future, had never crossed my mind that it might be a danger.The point they make about disengaging the cruise control by jumping on the breaks isn't great advice though - probably not the best thing to do when you're aquaplaning!
smartphone hater said:
Most CCs nowadays will disengage if any loss of traction is detected which is good, but isn't an ideal situation either especially if you're not expecting it.
My 2003 car is heavily based on a 1994 design. The traction control works by sundial, I wouldn't trust CC to deactivate itself until the fire brigade turned up to cut me out... 
Interesting to see that it's constantly developing though.
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