Drivers + Wet Conditions

[TheSneakiness]

Why is it that when it rains heavily that people seem to think that hitting the anchors and cutting people off is a great idea?

Case in point, yesterday afternoon it decided to rain heavily on my way home, which is about a 5km drive now. Some stupid bastard decided to come flying out of a driveway across three lanes of traffic to make the green turning arrow, which cut off one guy, which then in turn made three guys following him hit the anchors hard, which then made me hit my anchors hard, and I pulled up behind a Mazda Tribute, with about 10cm to spare.

I always give two extra car lengths following distance in the wet, just in case something like this happens. Thanks to DBA and Bendix too, because otherwise I would have been forking out on my clean insurance record because some moron does not know how to drive.

[Mack 6]

When I am travelling behind people, I leave a decent gap so that I don't have to hit the brakes everytime they do ( alot of my drive to work seems to be downhill). Other drivers see it as an offer to constantly change lanes.. making it so thay I still have to hit the picks anyway.
Tailgating is a sin, as is pulling out into traffic first, and then deciding whether it was a good idea or not second.
The wet just increases the level of some people's stupidity sometimes

[bwhinnen]

Because like most Brisbane drivers they don't know how to drive. Oh sorry that is not fair and over generalising, but you get the idea.

Having lived in Darwin for many years and driving in the torrential rain up there you learn to drive in the rain.

Rule number one, leave a bigger fecking gap.
Rule number two, turn on you lights!
Rule number three, don't cut people off, they can't stop as quickly.
Rule number four, use your common sense, contrary to popular belief you do have some.

oh and Rule number five, pay attention to the road and don't rubberneck!

The thing that gets me in SE QLD is that the big signs on the motorways say to slow down in the wet, bugger that, leave a bigger gap, sitting 6" behind someone when doing 60kmph in the wet is like looking down the barrel of a loaded gun!

Glad to see someone else out there takes care in the wet rather than tail gaiting like the usual Brisbane driver...

[BENT_8]

I couldnt agree more!
problem is its always the innocent party that pays the price, and dont you just envy the heroes who are able to do burnouts in the wet.
That always looks really hard....NOT!

[stiddy]

Ive also noticed in the rain people tend to drive faster to get home or where ever they are going faster to get out of the rain.
noticed this alot when I was in Canberra lol, Sydney isnt much better, and im scared to go to Victoria :P

[superpursuit83]

This is all great theory, but what do I do when In a crane/truck. You leave braking distance, but thats more than enough room for a car to slip in. Sometimes it feels like your going backwards.

But agreed most people like looking at the sparkly rain drops rather than the road

[pauljh74]

In urban traffic, you need to balance the need to leave a safe gap with the need to stop people cutting in, therefore slashing your safety margin to almost nothing. You always get some idiot who thinks that 10 metre gap between cars is an invitation for them to cut in.

As for the comment about not needing to slow down - spot on - unless there is a risk of aquaplaning at speed due to large puddles on the road in heavy rain. If cars are travelling at the same speed, a larger gap is all that's needed and a more cautious application of throttle and brakes.