Safe Driving Tips for Rain & Hurricanes

Hurricane season brings battering winds, torrential rains and potentially dangerous wet and flooded roads, as do heavy rainstorms.

These safe driving tips for rain and hurricane season could save a life – yours, a passenger, pedestrian or those in another vehicle.

Know also that some higb-tech safety systems like lane departure warnings may not work if their operating cameras are under water.

Brake earlier and with less force than normal

This does more than simply increase the stopping distance between you and the car in front of you.

It also lets the driver behind you know you’re slowing down.

Use turn signals

That will help other drivers know your intentions.

If your vehicle is equipped with a lane departure warning system, it may not work when the road is well-covered with water.

Slow down

Slow down and allow yourself enough space so you can stop safely. And take turns and curves with less speed than you would in dry conditions.

Beware of puddles and flooded areas

Avoid large puddles, which can be deeper than they look. After you cross a puddle, tap your brake pedal lightly to dry off some of the water on your rotors.

Beware also of flooded areas, which also can be deeper than they look.

Modern vehicles are full of electronic controls, including for safety systems such as airbags. Flooding your car could cause those systems to short out.

How to avoid buying a flood-damaged vehicle

Have a go-bag ready for emergencies

How to prepare for a hurricane or other emergency

Avoid using cruise control

If you hydroplane, there’s the chance your car could actually accelerate.

Cruise control also allows drivers to be less vigilant and to take their foot away from the pedals, which is not a great idea when reaction time is so important.

If you start to hydroplane, do not brake suddenly or turn the wheel, or you might spin into a skid. Release the gas pedal slowly and steer straight until the car regains traction.

Pay special attention to pedestrians

Keep a sharp lookout for people, because even the most observant pedestrian may become distracted by fiddling with an umbrella or a rain slicker, especially in windy conditions.

Plus, raindrops deaden sound, so the usual audio clues pedestrians use for measuring vehicle distances can become obscured.

Put headlights on low beam

Even if you have daylight running lights, low beam will allow you to be see more easily in daylight.

If it’s raining after dark, low beam will create less glare, also allowing other vehicles to see you more easily.

Do not put on your high beams, which can scatter light and bounce it off rain and fog droplets, further decreasing your visibility while also blinding oncoming motorists.

Avoid fogged windows

To avoid fogged windows inside your car during heavy rainfalls, run the heat and air-conditioning simultaneously.

Wear your polarized sunglasses

Experts say that lightly tinted glasses can sometimes improve visual acuity during extreme conditions. Try it. If it doesn’t work for you, remove them.

Use your emergency flashers

If you choose to stop driving and wait out a downpour, put on your emergency flashers when you’ve pulled safely off the road.

These safe driving tips for hurricane season are from my go-to automotive resource, Edmunds.com.

This driving safety article was published first in 2015 and has been updated and republished regularly, including for 2024.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 25+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.