Need to head out during a downpour? It’s crucial to exercise extra caution due to the challenging conditions that come with the rain. Flooding, slippery roads, and reduced driver visibility increase the risks on the road and require a heightened sense of awareness.
Thankfully, leading automotive manufacturers like Ford equip their vehicles with safety features that are useful when driving amid a heavy downpour.
Here are four tips for drivers to ensure safety on the road:
Check your wipers. Clear vision is vital when driving in the rain. Check and clean your wipers and windshield before hitting the road and make sure to replace worn-out wiper blades for effective rainwater clearance. Certain models of the Next-Generation Ford Ranger and Ford Everest feature rain-sensing wipers that activate automatically when it starts drizzling, simplifying wiper usage in rainy weather.
Always maintain visibility. Remember to turn on your headlights for better visibility and to ensure other drivers can see you too. Owners of select Ford Ranger and Everest variants can take advantage of LED headlights with C-Clamp daytime running lights and LED fog lamps for enhanced visibility of the road.
Vehicle cameras can also help improve driver visibility, especially on blind spots. The Next-Gen Ranger Wildtrak 4×4, Next-Gen Raptor, and Next-Gen Everest Titanium+ 4×4 are fitted with a 360-degree camera that can help drivers see all angles of the vehicle especially during challenging weather conditions.
Know your vehicle’s water wading capability: Knowing your vehicle’s capability to handle floods is essential for navigating through them effortlessly. The Ford Ranger and Everest can wade through water up to 800mm, while the Raptor can handle 850mm. However, it’s still important to assess the road condition first. If the road is passable, it is advisable to drive at the center where the flood usually tends to be the shallowest, and drive in low gear to minimize the water from entering the engine and avoiding damage to the electrical parts of the vehicle.
Drive slower. Reduced traction and maneuverability are common in rainy and wet road conditions, so it’s important to drive at a slower speed. Always check your tires before driving on a wet and slippery road and ensure tread depth is good.
Some vehicles, like select variants of the Ranger and Everest, offer a “Slippery” drive mode that optimize the engine and transmission to minimize wheel spin and improve traction with the help of traction control.
To ensure a worry-free experience on the road, Ford also encourages its vehicle owners to visit a Ford dealer for proper vehicle check-up and maintenance especially during the rainy season, where they can get access to genuine Ford parts, advanced service facilities, and network of Ford-trained technicians.
