Nearly anyone of sound mind and body can learn to drive a car but to drive it safely and well, with consideration and skill, is an art which only really begins when the driving test is over. Experience alone is not enough; unless the right techniques are learnt, mistakes are repeated and become habit. This article is aimed not at teaching you how to drive, but at showing you how to drive better.

Rain means reduced visibility, the risk of 'aquaplanning' and skidding and deterioration in the car's stopping ability. Rain is most dangerous when it falls after a long, dry spell on to roads that have become polished and smooth: the rain blends with oil and rubber-dust deposits on the road surface to form a highly dangerous skid mixture.

Wet-weather driving demands gentle use of all the main controls - steering, clutch, brake and accelerator - and a larger allowance for errors and emergencies. Remember also when you begin a journey in rain that your shoes will be wet and liable to slip of the pedals. Scuff the soles on the rubber matting or carpetting of the car before you start the engine.

Visibility
Wipers will often clear light rain from the windscreen with a few sweeps, then run on an almost-dry screen and leave smears of drying dirt. Use the wind washers liberally and operate the wipers in short, frequent bursts. Heavy rain, on the other hand, can overload the wiper blades, allowing an almost continuous sheet of water to flow over the screen. Reduce speed even more than you would otherwise have done or, if the reduction in visibility is severe, pull in to a side-turning or lay-by until the storm passes -- which seldom takes more then a few minutes.

Rain can also cause windows to mist up inside the car. The windscreen is easily cleared by the
de-mister, by fresh air or by the use of an impregnated cloth.

	To clear the rear window, adjust the heater to blow at full power on the windscreen, so that the heat flow under the roof and down to the rear window		If the car has swivelling fascia vents, adjust them so that the air flow strikes the upper edge of the side windows and the moves along the side windows to the rear of the car.		If demisters are ineffective, open both front window about half an inch; the air will be drawn in to the car and circulated across the inside of the rear window.

Aquaplaning

Aquaplanning: This is what happens to the front wheels as speed increases in the rain and grip decreases. When tyres are waterborne, steering control is lost. Reduce speed by easing the accelerator. Do not breake until tyre is re-established

Whenever it rains, a film of water forms on the road. If a car is being driven fast, or if its tyres have lost so much tread that the water cannot be squeezed from underneath them, a wedge of water will form in front of, and under, the tyres. The car will then be sliding on the surface of the water and not driving on the road -- the condition known as aquaplanning. This results in loss of steering control. On a smooth polished road in moderate rain at 60 mph, each tyre has to displace about a gallon of water every

second from beneath a contact patch no bigger than a size nine shoe. Each gripping element of the tread is on the ground for only 1/150th of a second; during this time it must displace the bulk of the water, press through the remaining thin film, and then begin to grip the road surface. Bald tyres give better grip on dry roads than treaded tyres, provided the car is travelling in the straight line. But they are unsafe because water is a lubricant on rubber - as borne out by the fact that rubber is best cut with a wet knife. (Also, punctures are more common in the rain.)

With good tyres, only moderate rain and a well-drained surface, aquaplaning should not occur below 60mph. However, it can happen at speeds as low as 35 mph.

As soon as the water on the road is deeper than the tyre tread depth, the car is likely to aquaplane. When a car starts to aquaplane, the steering will feel extremely light. Slow down gently by decelerating -- not by breaking -- until the steering feels normal again. In general, no speed can be recomended for safe driving in the rain. The slower you drive, and the better your tyres, the less likely you will be to aquaplane.

Flooded roads If you drive into flood water at speed, the effect is almost like hitting a wall: you will first lose control, then come to a violent stop, risking injury to passengers.

Watch particularly where the road is undulating or where there is a dip under a railway bridge. There are places where water collects quickly.

After passing through deep water, drive slowly and pump the brakes to dry them out.

At night, in the beam of a dipped head light, you will need good road observation to notice a difference between a wet road surface and flood water. Watch the contours not only of the road but also of fences, trees, hedges and buildings at the side of the road ahead -- if they appear to be unnaturally low, the road is probably flooded. Slow down at once.

Generally, if the water is deeper than the bottom of the cooling-fan blades -- on average, 10-12 in., or roughly to the centre of the wheel hub cap -- it is inadvisable to attempt driving through it.
If you do decide to go on, go slowly and avoid making a bow wave. Removing the fan belt lessens the risk of the engine and electrical components becoming wet.

If the exhaust is under water rev the engine hard and 'slip' the clutch to keep going.

Engage first gear and keep the engine running fast by slipping the clutch -- that is, releasing the clutch just for enough to partially engage gear and giving more acceleration than usual. This keeps the exhaust gases moving fast, helping to prevent water entering the exhaust tailpipe; if this is submerged too deeply, however, not even the fast-moving gas will hold the water back and the engine will stall.

Should the engine die in deep water, it is sometimes possible to wind the car out by using the starting handle, if there is one, with a gear engaged and the ignition off. If you remove the spark-plugs there is less compression and the task is easier . Do not let water enter the cylinders.

Immediately after passing through deep water, test the brakes. They may be saturated, and only driving very slowly and braking lightly at the same time will generate enough heat to dry them out. Be sure they are pulling evenly on all wheels before building up speed again.

Drive Safely and enjoy driving in rain.