Dangerous Vallejo Roads Require Precaution
For at least the next week, and most likely for longer, roads in Vallejo will become significantly more risky to drive on due to rainy weather. For various reasons, including decreased visibility and slick roads, rainy weather means that everyday driving routines have a heightened risk of collisions resulting in injury. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has issued a list of precautions for California drivers to ensure that the rain doesn’t lead to an increase in accidents.
Proper Maintenance
Firstly, CHP urges drivers to regularly maintain their cars to keep them safe in rainy conditions. This includes ensuring that the blades of their windshield wipers are in good working condition. Wiper blades that are over a year old are prone to breaking and may need to be replaced. Additionally, tires should be inspected both for air pressure and tread depth. Tires with less than 4/32 of an inch in tread depth should be replaced, as they do not have proper traction on wet roads.
All lights on the vehicle should also be inspected to ensure they are working correctly. California drivers are urged to remember that they are required by law to turn their headlights on whenever the windshield wipers are used.
Cautious Driving
CHP has stated that one of the most essential precautions on wet roads to avoid car accidents is to simply slow down and drive more cautiously. Allowing more room between your vehicle and the person driving in front of you and beginning to slow earlier before stoplights, stop signs, and halted traffic are all important ways to avoid slipping and causing a collision.
CHP advises that drivers never drive their vehicles through standing bodies of water, no matter how shallow they appear, as it is often difficult to tell how deep they actually are.
Hydroplaning
CHP also warns California drivers to be wary of hydroplaning, which can occur at high speed when water builds up between the ground and moving tires, causing a loss of contact and traction with the roadway. If this occurs, CHP advises that drivers take their foot off of the accelerator but not brake. The steering wheel should also be eased off. Once the car gets traction again, it can be thrown out of control by wheels not in the same position as when the vehicle began to hydroplane. Once traction has been regained, drivers should keep their speeds below the level at which the hydroplaning occurred.
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