Hydroplaning – Why Is It Dangerous?

Hydroplaning is a dangerous road hazard that can happen in wet conditions. It’s basically the vehicle skidding due to loss of contact with the slippery road surface. In such instances, the wet road conditions cause the driver to lose control over the vehicle by preventing efficient braking, steering and power distribution. During a rainstorm the accumulated water on the road creates a film layer that pushes against the tires. The force of the water can cut off the tire from its contact with the surface, and this is what causes hydroplaning. When this loss of contact happens, the tire begins to skid and the driver loses control over the vehicle.

While hydroplaning can happen on all wet surface conditions, basically whenever the road surface is slippery, the most hazardous time is the first ten minutes of rainy weather. In those minutes the rainwater mixes together with the oil residue and dirt absorbed by the concrete, which creates an additional slick layer between the tire and the road. With time the oil and dirt wash away from the road, but the water remains. The road remains slippery and keeps the water on the road, which can continue to block the tire’s direct contact with the surface.

Why Does It Happen?

When the rainy weather hits and the road is covered with water three crucial factors contribute to hydroplaning: the speed you’re driving at, the tread depth of your tires and the depth of water on the road.

Firstly, the speed you’re driving at determines the tire’s wet weather traction. At moderate speeds the tire’s groove placement and siping pattern are capable of channeling water and slush through the footprint and away from the tire. This breaks up the thin water layer generated on the road surface and maintains the tire’s road contact throughout its performance. However, at higher speeds the tires are incapable of dispersing the water efficiently. This prevents it from keeping its road contact and maintaining traction, causing the vehicle to skid and hydroplane.

Secondly, the tread depth of the tire dictates the traction it can generate. Since stronger traction is needed for wet weather conditions, as long as the tire has an adequate tread depth it can firmly grip the road surface and improve its wet weather traction. On the other hand, if the tread is worn out, it will not provide the necessary traction. In such cases, the tire is incapable of maintaining the traction needed for a safe wet weather performance.

Lastly, the depth of the water also contributes to the dangers of hydroplaning. If even a thin layer of water can cause the vehicle to skid, which can lead to accidents, imagine what a deeper water layer would do! The thicker water layer creates a stronger obstacle in front of the tire, which requires more power on the vehicle’s end to overcome it.

What to Do When the Vehicle Starts to Hydroplane?

When your vehicle starts to hydroplane, the most important thing to remember is DON’T PANIC! That’s easier said than done, but if you panic, your movements become hasty and that can lead you to overcorrect. So what should you do? First, maintain a firm grip on the steering wheel and keep it as steady as possible. Try to maneuver the vehicle in the direction you are trying to drive. Slowly ease your foot off the gas and start to brake gradually. Do not brake hard and do not make rushed movements! When the vehicle is already skidding, abrupt steering movements, sharp cornering and hard braking will just make the situation worse.

Furthermore, if your vehicle is equipped with Cruise Control, turn it off! The cruise control is designed to maintain a certain, pre-programmed speed during highway driving. However, when the tires hit water, the vehicle slows down due to the external pressure affecting it. In such situations, the cruise control will take more power to try and maintain the dry weather driving speed, which just increases the possibility of hydroplaning. Like we said above, you want to start slowing down during a skid, so by turning off the cruise control, you can slow the vehicle down to a safer speed and ensure a safer driving experience.

Keeping track of the tread wear of your tires is also essential. They need to have good tread on them and must be properly inflated to combat hydroplaning. The tread design and tread wear rate increase the wet weather traction and you can achieve a better, more even tread wear rate by rotating your tires. The tire’s inflation levels also dictate the power it can utilize to overcome wet conditions. Moreover, choosing the correct tread design is also important to ensure your driving safety in wet weather. The right tread design can help increase the traction and may even help you avoid this situation altogether.

Tires That Prevent Hydroplaning

Aside from good wet weather traction, tires must channel water through their footprint to maintain their contact with the road surface at all times. The best tires for this are ones with circumferential and V-shaped groove patterns. These designs are able to channel water away from the tire’s footprint and therefore can maintain their contact with the road surface more easily in wet weather.

These grooves actively prevent hydroplaning by stopping the water layer from forming under the footprint and cutting off the tire’s contact with the road surface. However, different footprints perform in different ways to guarantee a safer driving experience. Tires with longer, continuous footprints have more time to evacuate water and provide a firm road contact, while shorter and wider footprints tend to have a higher number of wider grooves to keep their wet weather traction. As a result, the tire slices through puddles and other standing water to keep its road contact and ensure a secure wet weather performance.

If you’re looking for some good wet weather tires, check out our review of Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 or shop our All Season tires here.