The “water over road” sign is something that us Northwest Washingtonians are used to seeing. Many drivers, however, don’t know the proper way to go through water over the road. Today, I’ll be discussing the safest ways to navigate through water.
Obviously, the best way to deal with water over a roadway is to avoid it all together. If you know what roads can collect water, avoid them and plan your route around them. Driving through water, especially with a current, is more dangerous than most drivers realize. A few inches of water over the road can be enough to push a small car into a ditch.
If driving through water is an absolute must, make sure to take it slow. The faster you go through water, the more likely you are to hydroplane and get picked up by the current. Five to ten miles per hour is the fastest you’d ever want to go through water over a roadway, even with siped tires. Tire siping is only effective in a quarter inch of water or less. For information on tire siping, click here.
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