Why are most of the population incapable of driving in the rain?!

rtho782

The commute to work today (Bristol) was awful. There has been relatively heavy rain so there are lots of ~4" puddles covering lanes. On one of the lightly upward sloped sections of one of the B roads, this sort of weather always means 2-3" of running water across the whole road.

However, the reason the rush hour commute took double the normal time was not because of the rain itself but because of people driving like timid frightened rabbits, seeing a puddle, coming to an emergency stop, and waiting for the oncoming traffic to stop so they can drive around the puddle going through the oncoming lane instead, in order to avoid getting their tyres wet in case they dissolve.

Seriously? If you are too scared to drive in the rain then stay at home.

I was in the car today but this annoys me even more on the motorbike. I'm sat here queued in the rain getting soaked because some idiot driver is too scared to negotiate a puddle that I'm about to drive through on a motorbike.

Do people not understand than sudden braking and fearful swerving around water features is far more dangerous than just driving through them at a constant controlled speed?

/rant, sorry!

Limey

The funniest is watching folks in 4x4s going round puddles.:rotfl:I used to fly through them in the Hilux, splashy splashy. Still do in the Celica.

Herzlos

If you don't know how deep a puddle is then it's good practise to try and avoid it, as you don't know what's in it; potholes, chunks of rock, whatever, and could do a lot of damage if you hit something.

I always avoid going through large puddles forming at roadsides at speed, which means either slowing down or using the other lane.

rtho782

Yes, 4x4s. I was following a timid Rav4 for a bit this morning!!

And this is rush hour into Bristol, I would think most if not all of the people I was following do this trip every day of the week and should know the roads enough to know there isn't a 20ft pot hole there, unless it has magically appeared overnight!

gilbert_and_sullivan

Commutes are hell now wherever you live, dreadful public transport and overpopulated country (increasing constantly and will continue) means it will only get worse....one answer is to get working hours changed where possible to stagger journey times.

Rains slows traffic down but it may not just be timidity, i manage to negotiate standing water with a 6 axle lorry without splashing pedestrians and maintain progress because i adjust speed and road postion to account...whilst i often see cars and other vehicles in front of and behind me almost drown those nearby by ignorantly driving through standing water at speed.

SailorSam

I don't think changing your driving to suit the conditions should be described as being timid.

Yolina

Herzlos wrote: »

If you don't know how deep a puddle is then it's good practise to try and avoid it, as you don't know what's in it; potholes, chunks of rock, whatever, and could do a lot of damage if you hit something.

I always avoid going through large puddles forming at roadsides at speed, which means either slowing down or using the other lane.

Yeah - depends if you know the road, what's lurking under the water and therefore whether it needs avoiding. Happens regularly in London. The A1011 near City airport had a hole about a foot deep across nearly a third of one lane and maybe 2 feet in length... The council left it for something like 6 months, it only got fixed just before the 'lympics (road part of the ORN)

chunkychocky

It has made the news though, so it isn't usual amounts of 'puddles'...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20423164

mkirkby

rtho782 wrote: »

Seriously? If you are too scared to drive in the rain then stay at home.

I was in Los Angeles once when it rained. It was hilarious. Even the police were doing 15mph.

(Yes it was slippy due to all the oil suddenly being washed from the road surface but at least having driven in the UK I had a feel for it)

myhooose

I always thought driving through deep puddles, you were at risk of warping your brake discs and damaging the catalylitic converter. Also the wheel arch liners can be displaced if driving quickly.

wba31

that and people who either a) dont put lights on or b) put all lights on (headlights and fogs...)

not looking forward to driving to work tomorrow, luckily today i'm on the train...