Surface water on motorways…

[Orangesandlemons4]

So this morning I had quite a scary experience on an A road which is basically like a motorway - it had 3 lanes.

It wasn’t raining hard but obviously had been overnight and the roads I would describe were “damp”. There was spray from other cars but it wasn’t that busy as was around 9am.

Anyway I was overtaking a car on the inside lane, going about 73mph. All of a sudden there was a fair amount of surface water on the side of the lane (so nearest the central reservation). I heard quite loud noise from the car going over the water and felt the car was slightly skidding. I felt like if I had braked it would have caused it to skid (not sure if that would have happened though?).

Anyway, it really shook me up and for the rest of the journey I went about 55mph in the outside lane. I saw so many cars whizz by and it just got me thinking about driving on motorways in wet weather. If I am honest it’s scared me a bit because this has never happened to me before in wet weather, and I thought motorways weren’t supposed to flood, or collect water? Also, does this only happen on the outside or inside lanes, and not in the middle lane / s?

Hopefully you went 55 on the inside lane not the outside lane! Water will collect anywhere if the water overwhelms whatever drainage system is there. You have to adapt your driving to the conditions.

@Littletreefrog oh sorry I think I got confused! I was overtaking in the left hand line and driving at 55mph in the right hand land!

Ok I'm assuming this wasnt in the UK

Of course motorways can collect water! You were aquaplaning. It’s covered in the driving theory test. Driving at 73mph in the conditions we have had today is reckless.

Your car was starting to aquaplane. The tyres are unable to clear the water quick enough and the car starts to float on the surface. DO NOT brake. The trick is to just take your foot off the accelerator and the car will contact the road surface.

Drive to conditions. Remember after a dry spell, oil and water makes for a very slippy surface. And yes water will collect, even with good drainage if there is a sudden downpour surface water is likely, and agree with other re aquaplaning.

@Littletreefrog oh no sorry, I am wrong! I was driving 55mph in the left lane, using right to overtake.

@GCAcademic this was early morning. Conditions then were not that bad. I was overtaking so was going faster than I was when I hit the water. Then when I moved across there were a lot of cars going past me who were going at least 80mph. Even in the left lane when I was going slower, cars were still close to me and not leaving any braking distance.

I’ve been driving 40 years, clean licence and no accidents. My advice, for what it’s worth is to constantly read the road and conditions and agpdjust you driving accordingly. It’s irrelevant what other drivers are doing. Your responsibility is to keep yourself and others safe.

Adjust!

"Anyway I was overtaking a car on the inside lane, going about 73mph."

This is your problem here. You were already going way too fast for the conditions.

Roads generally have something of an apex in the centre so that water runs off to the sides, left and right - hence the standing water that you encountered in the outside, overtaking lane. The rain that I've encountered today would likely overcome drainage which may become blocked.

I suspect that you experienced the sensation of being pulled towards the central reservation. If you're out there overtaking, you won't have the opportunity to change lane to avoid water easily. In the left hand, normal driving lane, you would experience being pulled to the left. Still scary, but less dangerous.

Driving according to conditions doesn't just mean driving according to how busy it is.

We need to go slower and leave bigger distances between cars if theres standing water, or ice, or poor visibility, or whatever. Obviously you'd not go along a single track road with blind summits and bends on a frosty cold morning at 60mph even though that's the speed limit.

Aquaplaning is a horrible sensation. Sounds like you slowed down and stayed in the left hand lane to allow overtaking afterwards, which was sensible.

You should adjust to the conditions of the road.
You described it as damp so common sense should have told you to drive accordingly.

Agree do NOT brake, but also do NOT take your foot off the accelerator either, just slightly release some pressure then maintain the same lighter pressure on accelerator until through it.
If you skid, steer into the skid. It can be scary as all of this goes against what feels natural but it's the safest thing to do.

I'm an advanced bluelight driver, my first skid training drive was terrifying!

"I thought motorways weren’t supposed to flood, or collect water?"

Who told you that? It's utter nonsense.

"Also, does this only happen on the outside or inside lanes, and not in the middle lane / s?"

It happens on all roads, motorways or not. It might seem or feel more noticeable on a motorway due to the faster speed. There might be a camber on the road or a slope which would make one lane less susceptible to flooding but this could be a middle lane or a left or right lane, depending on which way the road is curving and whether or not it's up/downhill.

Edited: You just have to use your common sense (modernly called a dynamic risk assessment) in bad weather/road conditions and adjust your driving accordingly. It really doesn't matter what other people are doing apart from you may have to over compensate for their stupidity.

No. You need to drive at the appropriate speed for the conditions and the type of road you are on. You can't conquer physics/hydrodynamics

Look up aquaplaning and drive to the conditions in future.

Check your tyres

Motorways and dual carriageways are a nightmare for water collection in and after heavy rain.

It’s happened to me a few times over more than 30 years driving so I’m really cautious and read the road carefully now.

I also slow down significantly in poor weather conditions.

So you think puddles don't exist...?

I found that it’s worth buying the more expensive tyres as it makes a difference. My tyre place has ratings online and you can chose those which are best for the conditions (so in the area I live it tends to be wet, or warm, but not snowy). Get tracking done too at the same time. Once your car is as prepared as it can be you just have to do as other say.

however some roads are much worse for it than other - the M40 does not drain well, and I think it’s the design, so I always plan ahead to avoid it if there is very intense rain forecast.

on the other hand I was on the m25 in an absolute deluge and it was ok (albeit we were all doing 30mph as the visibility was so poor).

Also lots of drivers are terrible, don’t slow down and don’t leave enough space. Don’t judge your driving by them.

You were speeding and you aquaplained. Perhaps you'll drive more carefully when the roads are wet next time.