What are you supposed to do when your car starts to spin out of control in the rain?

Question

tonight I was driving around a curve and all of a sudden there was all this water on the road and my car felt like it was in the air or something, like I had no control of it, and I hit the brakes but it didn't stop. I started spinning like crazy and I thought I was going to go off the edge or someone was going to smash into me. It was so scary. I know we went over this in drivers ed but I've never gone through it before. I live in LA. It doesn't rain here v much. It's supposed to all wkend though & I live off a super windy road & I can't go through that ever again!

Will you please tell me exactly what I'm supposed to do if that happens again? Thx.

Answer 1

It's called "hydroplane" i think that's the way you spell it. Anyway, either you were driving too fast and hit a puddle or you don't have a lot of traction on your tires and you need new ones. The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago and it turned out that I needed new tires.

Answer 2

This happened to me once while driving in heavy rain on an unfamiliar highway at a reduced speed (thank goodness).....as I entered a left hand curve on a down hill slope, I drove over a large volume of water running across the road. My vehicle began to feel as if it was "floating". I came off the accelerator, focussed on keeping my vehicle's steering as straight as possible.....and a couple of seconds later I was back on the regular road surface again.

This "hydroplaning" phenomenon usually only lasts a second or two, so it's important to remain in control of your steering.

Your wheels are actually riding on top of the water when this occurs, so braking has no effect except to throw your vehicle off its natural course of direction, which is what causes your eventual loss of control..............that and oversteering to try to overcorrect the problem. If you come off the accelerator, your vehicle will naturally slow down and your wheels will come back down to the road surface again. This takes only a second or two.

Remember to always look where you want to steer, so that you don't look at that tree, bridge abuttment, fence post, power pole, etc. and hit it instead.

Hydroplaning is caused by driving too fast for the amount of water on the road. It sounds like you have new tires, so tire condition wouldn't have been a factor.

You have survived unscathed and so I would say that you have learned a valuable lesson. Never drive beyond your abillity level.

You can also take advanced driving courses and learn how to handle your vehicle under emergency conditions such as snow/ice, hydroplaning (preventing it is important), collision avoidance, etc.

Think and Drive

Answer 3

Watch for water on the road, slow down before you get there.

Hydroplaning can be unnerving, as you discovered.  Always

steer into (the same direction) a skid.  The panic of the

moment can cause you to oversteer.  If that happens more than once,

make smaller changes (this happening quickly).  

Contacting water will cause you to instantly lose speed which

in turn induces a rotational moment (if on a curve).  In a front-

wheel drive car (yours) you can stabilize it by giving it the

gas, very slightly, until your front wheels clear the water.

Its a lot to remember, thats why practice is important.  To take

the easy way out, simply drive slower in wet or low visibilty

conditions.

Answer 4

It is always scary to drive in the rain. period.

have you heard of pumping the breaks? do this slowly and u will be fine...this is a good idea here..

the last thing you need to do is slam on them and hydroplane.

becareful.

Answer 5

Drive more carefully and slowly in the rain, especially on corners. Make sure your tyres have tread and are inflated to the recommended pressure. From what I understand the Prius has ABS brakes and traction control so it should help you in situations like this or even help you avoiding them.

Answer 6

You were hydroplaning.  You were travelling through the water at sufficient speed that enough water pressure built up under the front of your tires for your tires to ride up on the water.  

It's kind of like slipping on other surfaces, but far worse, because it is tougher to predict and control.  It is one of the most dangerous conditions you can encounter.  

Let off the gas, but stay on it.  DO NOT slam on the brakes.  Slamming on the brakes will just prevent the tread in your tires from being able to better shed water, which will just make it worse.  You did EXACTLY the wrong thing there.  

Treat it like any other skid.  Let off the gas, don't brake.  Turn into the skid.  Like if you are trying to go straight, and the car is turning to the right, you turn the wheel to the left.  Or if you're trying to turn right, but the car turns FARTHER right than you're trying to turn, turn the wheel a little bit to the left.  

When you're hydroplaning, you have even less traction than you do on wet ice.  But on the off chance that ONE of your wheels is able to grab even for a split second, this action could be just what it takes to save you.  (If none of them can get any grip before you completely lose it, well, nothing can stop it)

Honestly, I fail to understand how people can not do this reflexively.  I did the first time I drove on snow (the first time I drove).  

Anyhow, there are a few things that increase your chance of hydroplaning.  

Wide tires:  The wider your tires, the more surface area there is for the water to build up under, with less weight on each unit of area.  Once the water pressure is greater than the pressure of the car on the ground, you're hydroplaning...so wide tires make it easier.  

Smooth sport-oriented tires.  Tires made for gripping dry asphalt really well tend to have a lot of flat areas and not a lot of tread grooves, relatively speaking.  The grooves allow water to escape, which discourages hydroplaning.  I don't think most tires like this are even road-legal.

Bald tires.  If your tire tread is worn out, it can't let water out, and you hydroplane.

Speed, particularly when cornering or braking.  Slow down, and the water has more time to escape from under the tire.  

If you want this to never happen again, remedy all of the problems above.  Don't drive your Corvette in rainy weather if you can help it.  Drive slower when it rains.  (Take whatever you were doing tonight, and subtract 5 mph.  That ought to do it)

You could also get tires specifically designed for wet conditions.  Like Goodyear's famous "aqua tread," which I believe was the first.  (They have a deep groove down the center of the tire to allow water to flow through)

If you can find a good place, I'd recommend doing some donuts on an open patch of gravel, or if you travel somewhere that has it, snow.  You'll learn enough in 15 minutes that if you ever start to skid or spin again, you'll have no problem getting out of it (if it is possbile).

edit:  ABS does NOT prevent you from spinning out.  It prevents your brakes from locking, and ...actually it CAN help PREVENT hydroplaning, but if you're already hydroplaning, jamming on the brakes hard enough to activate ABS will only make things worse.  

You're thinking of Dynamic Stability Control/Electronic Stability Control, or in some cases Traction Control.  They are completely different things.

Answer 7

If you find yourself hydroplaning, do not touch the brakes. Slow down by smoothly lifting your foot from the accelerator, engage your clutch if you are driving a standard-shift vehicle, and let it coast down to the point where the hydroplaning stops. Some experts advise shifting an automatic transmission into neutral while you slow but I do not recommend this (for the same reason I wouldn't put my transmission in neutral on a downgrade). Remember that smoothness is very important -- you don't want to make any sudden moves. You will not be able to steer while the vehicle is hydroplaning.,but having your wheel turned into the slide will make the recovery quicker when the car starts to gain traction.

Answer 8

Avoid using your brakes; if possible, take your foot off the accelerator to slow down.

Answer 9

DON'T jump on the brakes.  STEER first.

You only start braking if the car is going where you need to go - and then very slowly and gently.

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But bad news is that sometime you have to steer and stop.  Then you have no choice and you will spin out.  Even those top pro drivers spin out because they have no choice from time to time.

But if you CAN - stay off the brakes.

Good Luck...

P.S.  Unlress you have really old car, your ABS brakes should have prevented you from spinning out. Have that checked.

Answer 10

Take your foot off the gas and do NOT hit the brakes. Down shift, you can do that even in an automatic but then you would have to hit the brakes so that is not recommended. other than that you can only steer and coast till you stop hydroplaning

Answer 11

Lightly ease onto the brake and don't jerk the wheel.

And if it's wet, don't drive so fast.

Answer 12

Stay calm. Shout as loud as you can until someone hears it.

Call all your contacts in your cell and wait what will happen.

If you fell air again, get out as fast as you can.

And one tip if it's raining don't go out alone. Hope this helps!!