Maybe you’ve been told in past but there’s still the need to reiterate these few necessary steps to take in order to ensure that you have a decent driving experience during the rainy season.

1. Check Your Tyres

The intention was to list out these tips in no particular order however we can’t stress the importance of having good tyres enough. Always make sure that the tread count on your tyres are top notch! Think slippers and boots, slippers can’t give you the sort of grip for example, when you run up (or down) a slippery topography but there would be enough grip if you did that in construction boots mostly because of the teeth underneath your boots. The designs on your tyres aren’t for fancy or just to make it aesthetically pleasing to look at, functionality is at the core of those designs. If you don’t drive with good tyres in the rain, you risk a high chance of making your car “hydroplane” whilst driving because those designs are intended to get water out of the way whilst gripping the road.

What ‘’Hydroplaning” simply means is that water has separated the tyres from the road thereby making you lose control of the vehicle temporarily as traction is lost – hence no friction. Want to avoid this? Make sure your tyres aren’t bald, tread count and tread depth must be properly accounted for. See a specialist if all the lingo seems a bit too much for your liking.

Also, ensure that your tyres are properly inflated, and the recommended PSI – that’s the pressure is what they have all been adjusted to.

2. Check Your Brakes

Endeavour to check your brakes, brake pads and fluids not just during the rainy season, but all year round. Whenever you hear squeaky noises or you notice a flat brake – the best thing to do is to get it repaired instantly. You need all the stopping power you can afford especially in wet driving conditions.

3. Check Your Wipers

The standard to be maintained is changing your wipers once every year for as time goes by, they become hard, cracked and start to leave lines on your windshield so adhere to the aforementioned standard. Speaking of windshield, ensure you wash and wipe them regularly during the rainy season. Another tip is to make sure you fill up your windshield washer fluid if it’s depleted.

4. Check Your Lights

Apart from the foggy conditions that come with the season, there’s also reduced visibility when driving in the rain as your windshield becomes blurry to look through but when the lights of incoming or the vehicles ahead of you are turned on; it aids your visibility, giving you an extra advantage. Now you wouldn’t want to deny other road users the chance to gain this same advantage as well by driving with damaged headlamps or busted rear lights. Plus, it could save lives someday!

So please ensure your lights are fully functional. Check periodically at intervals yourself by alighting your vehicle and walking around, perhaps, one good evening when you’re chilling at home.

5. Check Rubbers and Coverings for Leaks

This could often be a serious nuisance to you. Imagine having to dry out your boot (trunk) every time it rains. Or water seeping in from a leaking sunroof intermittently, which has now caused your car to have this putrid smell all over. Quite irritating, right? Well, these are actual experiences of real car owners. No matter how little it drips into your car whenever it rains or you notice after washing the vehicle – please FIX IT ASAP!

Also, a lot of modern cars have multiple wires running through their engine
these days so endeavour to check if the wires are covered and not exposed. Check also if your vehicle is properly grounded.

6. Check Your Battery

It is advisable to switch up your car alarm settings from panic mode because during a heavy downpour overnight for example, your car alarm might blare uncontrollably all through thereby depleting your battery completely and now you’re left stranded the next morning since your car has refused to start. Also, clean your battery heads regularly as humidity could affect your batteries negatively – leaving deposits of accumulated matter.

7. Drive Carefully

No one needs to be told this as naturally you would drive slower than usual when it rains. You never know especially in this part of the world where our roads are really not in the best of shape, if the puddle is covering a deep porthole that could ruin your vehicle when you drive hastily over. Another reason is that you might need to brake immediately and bring the car to a sudden halt which may be difficult when it’s raining as there’s reduced traction like we spoke about earlier. And in the words of Kanye West “Drive slow”.

Sometimes, these little things often make the biggest impact so you’d be to adhere. Thanks for reading.