There hasn’t been much, if at all, rainfall as this article is being written. But should the skies open up again, here’s what you need to do on the road to stay safe. It’s no coincidence that more accidents occur during a heavy downpour because the chances of losing control of the car are higher.

Increase stopping distance

Roads are slippery during a downpour and your car thus requires a longer distance to come to a complete stop. The rule of thumb when driving in normal dry conditions is to keep a two-car length between you and the car in front of you. This distance has to be increased to give you more room should you need to make an emergency brake.

Brake gently

By doing this, you increase the stopping distance between you and the car in front of you, and also gives the driver behind you ample warning that you’re slowing down.

If there’s a large puddle

If you see a large puddle up ahead, try to avoid it because you never know what’s beneath it. If it's deeper than the bottom of your doors, turn around and find another route.

If there’s flooding

Never drive through moving water if you can’t see the ground through it. Being stuck in deep water can cause serious damage to your car's electrical system.

But if you’ve decided to go on, or have no choice but to do so, then drive very slowly. If you’re driving a manual car, engage the first gear and keep the engine running fast by releasing the clutch just enough to partially engage gear and giving more acceleration than usual. This keeps the exhaust gases moving, helping to prevent water from entering your tailpipe.

If you made it through, drive very slowly and brake lightly at the same time to generate enough heat to dry out the brakes.

Turn on your headlights

This helps you see the road ahead and lets other drivers see you better. However, don’t turn on the high beam as it will only obscure your view, because the light will reflect off the water droplets in the air.

Stop driving

If it’s raining so hard that you can’t see the road or the car in front of you clearly, pull over and wait until visibility improves.

What to do if you hydroplane

Hydroplaning or aquaplaning is the result of the tyres moving so fast across a wet surface that they don’t have sufficient time to channel the water away from the tyre. At this point, your car completely loses contact with the road, putting you in danger of sliding out of your lane or skidding.

If you find yourself hydroplaning, do not brake or turn suddenly as it can cause skidding. Hold the wheel firmly and steer straight ahead. Ease your foot off the accelerator until the car slows and your steering returns to normal.

If you need to brake, do it gently with light pumping actions. But if your car has anti-lock brakes, then brake normally, as the car’s computer will mimic a pumping action and you should be able to regain control of the vehicle.