Quick facts:
- Hydroplaning takes away your braking and steering control.
- Slowing down on wet roads lowers your risk.
- Worn tires make hydroplaning more likely.
Losing your steering and brakes on a wet road is one of the scariest things that can happen behind the wheel, and it’s usually caused by hydroplaning.
Hydroplaning is a result of your car’s tires’ inability to displace pavement surface water at a rapid enough rate to allow the rubber and pavement to make contact, thus reducing or eliminating tire grip. In other words, rather than your tires making contact with the pavement, they float on the water’s slippery surface. Without the friction created by the tire and pavement contact, steering and braking control are lost.
Most of the time, you can prevent it, and when it does happen, you can get through it safely.
Wet-Weather Safety
Hydroplaning: Prevent It. Survive It.
Before it happens:
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Slow down on wet roads.
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Steer around standing water.
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Check tread. Replace below 2/32″; 4/32″ is better for rain.
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Keep tires inflated to the door-jamb spec.
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Turn off cruise control in heavy rain.
If you start to hydroplane:
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Stay calm. It usually lasts a second or two.
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Ease off the gas. Don’t slam the brakes.
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Steer gently where you want to go. No jerking the wheel.
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Wait for grip, then straighten out and accelerate smoothly.
Penny test: Insert a penny head-down into the tread. If you can see all of Lincoln’s head, it’s time for new tires.
How to Tell if Your Car Is Hydroplaning
- The steering suddenly feels light and stops responding.
- The car feels like it’s floating or sliding, a lot like hitting ice.
The bottom line: If the road is wet, hydroplaning can happen.
RELATED: Electronic Stability Control: Everything You Need To Know
What Causes Hydroplaning?
Hydroplaning can result from one or several causes. Think of it in terms of surfing at the beach. If conditions are such that, rather than displacing the water layer on the pavement, your tires push that water in front of them, then eventually, the tires will create enough water buildup to interact with it like a surfboard riding a wave. Once that happens, contact with the pavement is minimized or lost completely, and so is control. Here are some of the different culprits responsible for hydroplaning:
- Tire tread depth: Engineered to displace standing water on the road, modern tires use tread design and depth to push water away from the tire surface. Even the most efficient water-displacement tread design loses its effectiveness as tread depth wears away. Worn tires invite hydroplaning.
- Wet roads: Water on the pavement is the central ingredient to any hydroplaning incident. The more significant the water layer, the more likely hydroplaning might occur.
- Water composition: The denser the layer of water, the higher the odds of hydroplaning. Oil, salt, and lower temperatures all contribute to the surface water density.
- Vehicle speed: Hydroplaning results when tires don’t have sufficient time to properly displace surface water. In other words, the faster the vehicle speed, the less time tires have to function effectively. The thinner the tread depth and the deeper the layer of water, the slower the speed required to displace that water.
- Vehicle weight: Lighter vehicles tend to hydroplane more than heavier ones.
Five Tips to Help Avoid Hydroplaning
The good news is, with a bit of common sense and relentless tire maintenance, hydroplaning can often be avoided.
- Avoid standing water. Steer around it when you safely can.
- Slow down. Lower speeds give your tires time to clear water.
- Check your tread. Bridgestone says tread below 2/32 of an inch is potentially dangerous. For wet roads, many safety experts recommend replacing tires at 4/32 of an inch. To check, put a penny in the tread with Lincoln’s head pointing down. If you can see his whole head, it’s time for new tires. Rotating your tires regularly helps them last longer.
- Keep tires properly inflated. Underinflated tires are especially likely to hydroplane. Use the pressure listed on the driver’s door jamb or in your owner’s manual.
- Turn off cruise control in heavy rain. It can keep powering the wheels after they lose grip, which makes a slide worse.
What to Do When Hydroplaning Occurs
Most drivers’ first instinct is to jerk the wheel and slam the brakes. That won’t help: your tires have no grip, so even stability control can’t fix it. Instead:
- Recover smoothly. Once the tires grip again, straighten out and speed up gradually.
- Stay calm. It usually lasts only a second or two.
- Ease off the gas. Keep the wheels rolling so you can steer once grip comes back.
- Steer gently. If the car slides, turn slightly in the direction of the slide. Overcorrecting can send you into a spin.
Visit Kelley Blue Book’s Car Safety Information Center page to learn more about vehicle safety features.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated since its initial publication. Russ Heaps contributed to this report.
Related Reading:
- Car Maintenance Guide: Everything You Need to Know
- Why Do My Brakes Feel Spongy?
- Why Does My Car Shake When I Brake?
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