Experience driving a car in stormy weather

Cars crushed by trees leading to death. Cars flooded, stalled, engine damaged… These are accidents that are very easy to encounter when driving in rainy or stormy weather.

Please refer to some of the experiences below to first ensure your safety, then protect your car from unfortunate incidents.

1. Do not park under large trees.

If you want to wait for the rain to stop, avoid stopping in areas with large trees. Try to find roads with high elevations and few large trees, even if you have to go around to avoid flooding and falling trees and branches.

2. Considerations when driving through flooded areas

You should consider the water level before going through, the safe water level is below 25 cm and does not exceed the center of the wheel, above that level you should not recklessly go through. Besides, you should also pay attention when there are vehicles going in the same direction and in the opposite direction because there may be a phenomenon of creating waves, causing the water to rise higher and increasing the risk of water overflowing into the air intake and engine air filter.

3. Remove the air filter

When you decide to go through a flooded area, you should remove the engine air filter to get air directly from the engine compartment, instead of through the car's air intake to avoid water from entering the engine. After passing through the flooded area, you can reinstall the engine air filter normally.

4. Turn off the air conditioner and drive in low gear.

When driving in flooded areas, turn off the air conditioner switch (AC button), go to 1st gear, run the throttle at a moderate level, keep the engine running smoothly, and drive slowly. For automatic transmission vehicles, switch to semi-automatic mode and leave it in 1st gear. If left as is, the vehicle will automatically shift to 2nd gear, causing the throttle to weaken, leading to water entering the engine through the exhaust pipe. Be careful not to depress the clutch of a manual transmission vehicle when going through flooded areas to avoid stalling the engine.

5. Gas and brake

Avoid stepping on the gas pedal suddenly because increasing the gas pedal strongly will cause water to overflow the radiator grille and pour into the intake pipe. In addition, when suddenly increasing the gas pedal, the engine speed will increase, if water enters, it will lead to water hammer phenomenon and bend the connecting rod.

Once you have passed the flooded area, you need to continue a bit, apply the brakes to remove water from the discs. Then get off and check the engine and undercarriage again.

6. Don't try to restart

If your car suddenly stops in the middle of a flooded area, do not try to restart it. Remove the key, push the car to a high place and call for help immediately.

Avoid opening the door immediately when the car stalls, but pay attention to the water level. If the water is higher than the lowest part of the door, absolutely do not open the door, because it will cause water from outside to flood in and damage the electronic systems. In this case, open the window to get in and out of the car.

7. Call for help

Always carry a traffic rescue phone number with you when needed. When calling for help, drivers should also note that if the vehicle is equipped with an automatic transmission, automatic anti-skid system, automatic bridge, automatic anti-rollover stabilization, or full-time 4-wheel drive, the vehicle should only be towed with a flatbed (4 wheels do not rotate).

According to giaothongvantai