Tips for Safe Driving in Heavy Rain and Gusty Winds

If you actually get caught in the car, it is usually a dangerous exceptional situation where good advice is often expensive.

Different regions are affected almost daily this summer: Supercells sweep across entire areas, leaving unprecedented devastation in a very short time. Heavy rain events or hurricane-like storms are also increasingly causing people trouble today.

Storms often come without warning

Often, storms arrive with almost no warning. Especially if you are on the road when this happens, it can be quite dangerous.

“The primary rule here is to adjust your driving style according to the weather and visibility conditions. Specifically, this means reducing speed, increasing the safety distance to the vehicle ahead, and driving as cautiously as possible. And, of course, in extreme weather conditions, it is always ideal to postpone the drive,” explains Isabella Finsterwalder, spokesperson for the KS automobile club, e.V., outlining potential danger situations with regard to one's own behavior.

What to do in heavy rain?

Heavy rain can lead to particularly precarious situations. Not only is the driver's visibility massively impaired, but the large volumes of water on the road can also be hazardous.

First of all, it is important to maintain a sufficient safety distance, as the braking distance is extended, and to reduce speed – a maximum of 80 km/h (even on highways) and even slower in very poor visibility conditions.

Additionally, it is advisable to switch on the dipped headlights. Attention should also be paid to the correct ventilation setting in case the windows suddenly start to fog up.

Beware of aquaplaning

The situation becomes particularly critical when aquaplaning occurs. Due to the layer of water on the road, the water can no longer be channeled away by the tire's tread. The result: the tires float, the vehicle loses traction, and for a short time, it cannot be controlled.

“It is very important to remain calm and hold the steering wheel firmly and straight. A fatal mistake that many often make intuitively is to press the brake pedal. Instead, it is important to reduce speed by letting the car roll or disengaging the clutch as much as possible. Once the car reaches a lower speed range, it regains traction, and the driver can continue their journey at a reduced speed after re-engaging the clutch,” says Finsterwalder.