Hydroplaning Risks and Prevention

CHARLOTTE – Rain, low temperatures, and a wintery mix all add up for risky driving conditions and higher potential for hydroplaning.

“Hydroplaning is when you lose traction with your vehicle and the tires in the roadway”, says Trooper Robert Rogers with the North Carolina Highway Patrol. “And this could be a brief couple of seconds and it could last for several cycles.”

Some wet places on the roads are extremely hard to avoid, especially if there is heavy traffic.

We met up with the crew at Hughes Automotive to break down what you should do if you do feel yourself starting to drift and hydroplane on the road.

Brandon Littlejohn, the shop manager at Hughes, told us to not even hit the break or the gas.

“Just hold steady and let it much let the car get through first because the worst thing you could do is hit the brake because then you start spinning and the same thing with you hitting the gas.”

“don’t panic is the biggest thing,” he says. “Keep driving slow. Go the speed limit. Don’t be riding up on people or anything like that because that’s the worst thing you can do and an accident happened, so just pay attention be diligent.