Driving In A Heavy Rain

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Semisane

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So early this morning we were blessed with a heavy rain. Going to work it was a nightmare as I leave home around 5:00 am it was dark most of the drivers could not see clearly. A bus driver almost fell into me imagine a bus falling into my little Brio. My friend once told me when it rain and I can't see ahead I must switch my hazard lights on. I did that this morning and saw few cars with hazard lights on. My driving licence is new I don't remember reading about that in K53, is it a law that when it rain and you can't see switch hazard lights on.

As a new driver what other tips you can give I know I must slow down driver at 60km/p. But I will never put myself in the situation I saw this morning I would rather be late for work than to drive in a heavy rain.
 
Please DON'T use your hazards in the rain. We can see you well enough if you have your headlights on.

What Ho3n3r said. Increase following distance by 15-20%. Avoid standing water (while keeping in your lane). Adopt a two hands (at 10 and 2) steering technique. If you start to hydroplane (when the wheels rise onto the surface of the water and the car starts to rev) don't brake - just ease of the throttle.
 
@Semisane: Bud please read through your posts before submitting them, and do any grammar corrections? It's quite tiring sometimes to figure out what you're saying.

As for the topic, there's no law about the hazards, but people put them on as it makes you more visible and so helps to prevent accidents. You are correct though, driving in heavy rain is quite taxing, you have to concentrate 100% and make sure you are driving slower than usual, leaving a good following distance between you and the car in front of you and not taking any risks.
 
Gear down and drive faster, that way you get out of the rain much more quickly
 
UrBaN963 said:
@Semisane: Bud please read through your posts before submitting them, and do any grammar corrections? It's quite tiring sometimes to figure out what you're saying.

As for the topic, there's no law about the hazards, but people put them on as it makes you more visible and so helps to prevent accidents. You are correct though, driving in heavy rain is quite taxing, you have to concentrate 100% and make sure you are driving slower than usual, leaving a good following distance between you and the car in front of you and not taking any risks.
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:mad:

NATIONAL ROAD TRAFFIC ACT NO. 93 OF 1996

Rules and Regulations

No.R.225 – 17 March 2000

198. General requirements for direction indicators

(6) (a) The driver of a motor vehicle fitted with a separate switch to operate all the direction indicators simultaneously, shall put into operation simultaneously all the direction indicators fitted to such vehicle, when the vehicle is—

(i) stationary in a hazardous position; or

(ii) in motion in an emergency situation.

(b) The driver of a motor vehicle shall not put into operation simultaneously all the direction indicators fitted to such motor vehicle in a circumstance other than those referred to in paragraph (a).
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Putting hazards on when you just need to drive carefully makes other people think that you might be stationary. This becomes a hazard when driving in low visibility conditions such as heavy fog where you rely on the lights of other cars to determine their position. If every dumbf**k puts their hazards on and drives at 80 it becomes difficult to tell who is actually a hazard (I.E broken down in the middle of the road ) and who isn't.

If you for some reason have to drive at 20 km/h on the N1 and not go into the emergency lane during fog, then it is ok to put your hazards on as you are a hazard in the road.
 
2 accidents in Garsfontein this morning (1 a Navara who tried to take a 90 degree turn too fast and bumped a tree, the other a taxi and SUV near a T junction). Both probably wet road related.

Anyway, be safe out there.
 
Use your rear fog instead of hazzards if visibility is seriously low. Also learn how to drive. Just cause you know how to drive doesn't mean you know how top drive..

Know the limits of your car. I don't slow down much in rain. Cause I know my car and its capabilities as well as my own capabilities. Once you know that you won't be so tense. Unfortunately the only way to know limits are to surpass them. Good luck!
 
The switching on of hazards during heavy rain is purely an act of courtesy and I applaud the drivers who do that.

In fact there's been incidents on the highway where an obstruction required a sudden stop. The driver in front of you would engage hazards for a few seconds to warn the driver behind him.

These are the road champions, not the arrogant fuks who think their advanced braking and tyres will handle anything on the roads so they're fine. No need for safety extras.
 
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WaxLyrical said:
The switching on of hazards during heavy rain is purely an act of courtesy and I applaud the drivers who do that.

In fact there's been incidents on the highway where an obstruction required a sudden stop. The driver in front of you would engage hazards for a few seconds to warn the driver behind him.

These are the road champions, not the arrogant fuks who think their advanced braking and tyres will handle anything on the roads so they're fine. No need for safety extras.
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The problem I find is when people use their hazards and try to move into another lane.
They can't indicate.
 
Put your lights on, not your bloody hazards.

Only use hazards to indicate a problem or an emergency. Such as a sudden stop ahead (although if you locked ABS they would come on automatically).
 
WaxLyrical said:
The switching on of hazards during heavy rain is purely an act of courtesy and I applaud the drivers who do that.
Click to expand...

Why...? Seriously why? Do you have working brake lights? Working headlights? If yes to both, why add hazards to that? Unless your driving is so out of the ordinary as to place yourself in a dangerous situation I again ask, why have your hazards on?
 
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