Rain, rain, go away, come again another day!
Below are a few tips for driving in the rain.
Reduce Your Driving Speed in Adverse Road and/or Weather Conditions
Adjust your speed to safely match weather conditions, road conditions, visibility, and traffic. Excessive driving speed is a major cause of fatal crashes, and higher speeds may cause more severe crashes. The Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) recently reported that 25 percent of speeding-related large-truck fatalities occurred during adverse weather conditions.
Did You Know? You should reduce your speed by 1/3 on wet roads and by 1/2 or more on snow-packed roads (i.e., if you would normally be traveling at a speed of 60 mph on dry pavement, then on a wet road you should reduce your speed to 40 mph, and on a snow-packed road you should reduce your speed to 30 mph). When you come upon slick, icy roads you should drive slowly and cautiously and pull off the road if you can no longer safely control the vehicle.
Did You Know? When it first starts to rain, water mixes with oil on the road making it particularly slippery.
Enter a Curve Slowly
Speed limits posted on curve warning signs are intended for passenger vehicles, not large trucks. Large trucks should reduce their speed even further. Studies have shown that large trucks entering a curve, even at the posted speed limit, have lost control and rolled over due to their high center of gravity.
Did You Know? 40 percent of speeding-related fatalities occur on curves.
Did You Know? Braking in a curve can cause the wheels to lock up and the vehicle to skid.
Reduce Your Speed Before Entering an Exit/Entrance Ramp
Approach an exit/entrance ramp at a safe speed. Truck rollovers are more likely to occur on exit/entrance ramps when the driver misjudges the sharpness of the ramp curve and enters the curve at an excessive speed.
Did You Know? The posted speed limit on an exit/entrance ramp generally shows the safe speed for a passenger vehicle; the safe speed for a large truck is usually significantly lower than the posted speed.
Did You Know? Even though ramps and interchanges make up less than 5 percent of all highway miles, 20 to 30 percent of all large-truck crashes occur on or near ramps.
