As winter approaches be prepared for rain and wet roads. Your best practices for safety are better visibility, firm control and slower speeds, by reducing speed gradually, taking your foot off the accelerator and most importantly, staying calm!

In wet conditions, it is wise to increase the three- second rule to 5-6 seconds, and maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead of you. By keeping up with some basic maintenance, you can put yourself in a position of staying safe, when the weather is wet.

Wet Weather Driving Tips

Drive Slowly

Speeding in wet weather is dangerous, slippery roads can be your worst enemy. The biggest dangers in wet weather conditions are, poor visibility, and not being able to control your vehicle at high speeds. Reduce speed gradually by taking your foot off the accelerator, take turns cautiously, anticipate unexpected problems, and leave lots of room between your car and other cars. When it's raining, it is wise to drive in the slow lane/left lane to stay safe.

Feel your car for grip, especially on turns or when going over or through large amounts of water, your tires must unload about a gallon of water per second.If you're driving in traffic, again leave ample room between your car and the car in front of you, also try to drive in that car's tracks to give your tires less water to have to remove.

What To Do When Your Car Skids

If you do find yourself in a skid, do not panic, simply take your feet off the pedals. Stop braking and stop accelerating. Then, slowly turn the steering wheel in the direction you want to go, once the car has slowed down a bit, brake softly.

Maintain Visibility

The middle of a storm or even a drizzle can impede how much of the road is visible to you. This makes it hard to see how other drivers are reacting or how to prepare for road hazards like puddles and potholes. Keeping your wiper blades in good condition and your windshield clean is the simplest and most effective way to make sure your visibility is good enough to proceed.

Change Your Windshield Wipers

Having trouble seeing in the rain? Might be old or dirty wiper blades, to know if you need to replace your wipers, listen, and look at how your blades clean the windshield. If they are quiet and smooth, easily clearing water, they are working correctly. 

If they are loud, the swipe feels rough, or they’re leaving a whole section of the windshield uncleaned, they may be in trouble.Check for obvious dirt or obstructions that could cause the noise or cleaning miss. If the blade is dirty or has something stuck in it, clean it with glass cleaner and remove the debris. If you notice any chunks of the blade missing or the problem continues after a cleaning, it’s time to replace.

Remove The Old Blades

Most blades will slide right off after pulling up on a clip-on top of the wiper or pressing down on a small tab on the underside of the wiper. Your car owner’s manual or the new blades packaging should have instructions, showing where this latch is.

Replace With New Blades

Slide the new blades on in the opposite way that the old ones came off. You will likely hear a click when a tabbed blade locks into place. On blades with a clip, you may need to close the clip to lock the blade in place. When you’re done, rest the wipers against the windshield again.

Now Test the New Blades

It’s a good idea to run the wipers a few times after putting them on, just to make sure they fit properly, are working correctly, and are secure against the wiper arm.

Check Your Bulbs and Clear Casings

Your vehicle's exterior lights serve two purposes: Driver visibility, to see your surroundings and to be seen by other drivers, when turning on your wipers, also turn on the exterior lights. Just because you can see the road, does not mean other drivers can see you, be sure your headlights are on while driving during early sunrise or sunset.  Headlight bulbs have a much longer lifespan than wipers, but it's important to replace them the minute you notice a problem, if your headlights appear dim or do not display brightly.A light that doesn't come on at all, probably just needs a new bulb.

Keep An Emergency Kit in Your Car

We highly recommend keeping an emergency kit in your car, should you find yourself on the side of the road.

At Midas Swellendam we have a variety of emergency kits to choose from, they come in a convenient carry bag, and can be kept in the boot of your car, for safekeeping.

Please ask a salesperson for advice on which emergency kit would be most helpful to you.