I was driving to Walgreens to pick up some Advil for my toothache when I had my second car accident. Given it had been raining most of the day, the road had flooded and as it was 8:30pm I did not see all the water I was about to drive into at the bottom of a hill. Unfortunately, I hydroplaned right into a ditch on the opposite side of the road, and hit a tree on my way there (so sad).
Hydroplanning occurs when water causes the front tires to lose contact with the road's surface. So I hydroplanned into the ditch when a combination of my speed (I was going 35mph), tire wear (I just got new tires, so much for that), tire inflation, or the depth of the water on the pavement (it was really deep) caused my tires to lose traction. When the speed of my car and the depth of the water increased, a wedge of water formed in front of my tires. My further increases in speed going downhill and the depth of the water at the bottom of the hill caused the wedge to move under my tire forming a film between the tire and road surface, greatly reducing my control of the car (yes that would be my control).
Here is a video of an SUV hydroplaning, the driver broke the car window, climbed out, and was OK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkq6omn741A&eurl=http://sciencechicagoblog.com/
If you should have the misfortune of experiencing hydroplanning like I did, do not panic (I tried not to). To control a hydroplaning vehicle, reduce acceleration and allow the vehicle to lose speed until the tires have better contact with the road.
I am OK, as for the car not so much (but it's getting fixed). Many people stopped to assist me, and the police and tow truck arrived almost immediately. After all the unfortunate action, my toothache seemed to have disappeared (amazing).
The following night, I met the policeman who was at the scene at Bella Lukes, my absolute favourite hamburger place (they have great fries and cheese), and he told me "To stay on the road, but that's why they call them accidents."
-Heather
Author's Note: This article was submitted by Heather, one of our correspondents.
Editor's Note: For more blogs from Dr. Rabiah, visit Science Chicago's website at: http://www.sciencechicagoblog.com
