Floods can occur anywhere, with floodwaters rising gradually or flash floods striking suddenly. And there are quite a lot of car drivers out there who think it will be fine for them to drive their valuable car through flood as long as they have their car tyres in good shape. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Even though it is true that today’s modern cars are usually more capable of getting through pretty severe flood, danger still exists. As a matter of fact, even those large 4×4 car drivers should try to be very careful when they are trying to get their car through flood.
For your information, the average automobile can be swept off the road in 12 inches of moving water, and roads covered by water are prone to collapse. Attempting to drive through water also may stall your engine, with the potential to cause irreparable damage if you try to restart the engine. If you come upon a flooded street and you feel unsure, take an alternate route.
HOW TO DRIVE IN A FLOOD?
Driving a car out during a heavy thunderstorm and flood may danger the lives of car drivers. So what are the advices?.So here are our top 11 tips on driving through a flood:
1. The most obvious piece of advice is to avoid flooded areas if at all possible. Change your route or don’t leave home unless absolutely necessary.
2. Don’t drive through flood water if you are unsure of its depth. Cars can float in as little two feet of water. As a rule, if the water is above the bottom of your doors consider turning around.
3. Try and drive at the highest point of the road if you can do so safely. Often this will be the middle of the road as the waters can tend to be deeper along the kerbs.
4. Never drive through a flood if there are vehicles coming the other way since as the waves coming from their movement could flood your engine.
5. Drive slowly and steadily creating only a small bow wave in front of you. Driving faster does not mean you get through faster as you may drive water into your engine and do some serious damage.
6. Drive in a low gear, keeping the revs high. Water in the exhaust can stall the engine.
7. Don’t forget that in low levels of water your braking distance is greatly extended, so drive at a speed that you know you can stop safely in case you need to.
8. Test your brakes once you pass through the flood as soon as it is safe to do so, i.e. when there are no cars immediately behind you.
9. Have your mobile with you and ensure you have your emergency numbers to hand, such as your breakdown assistance number.
10. Make sure you have spare warm clothing with you, just in case you need to leave your car.
11. If your vehicle stalls in the deep water, don’t restart your engine. Keep in mind that restarting may cause irreparable damage to the engine.
If you find these tips useful please let us know by leaving a comment. If you have any tips of your own to pass on please do so.
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