Driving in the Rain

It's the rainy season where I live, and life always changes a bit to accommodate the rains.  We try to run errands or meet with friends in the morning (before the afternoon rains), we are more likely to take a long afternoon nap thanks to the beautiful soundtrack a heavy rain provides, and we are much more careful while out driving in a car hire.  I recently had a crazy experience as a passenger in a friend's car during a heavy rain so I thought I would add my top tips for safe travels by car rental in the rain.

Use the Defoggers

Your car was equipped with these vents for a reason.  It is incredibly dangerous to drive around with a foggy windshield.  Most cars made since 1990 (and that should include virtually every car hire available) include a defogger/defroster for both the front and rear windshield.  This usually looks like a fan-shaped box with wavy arrows pointing up.  

My friend "didn't like the cold or hot air blowing on her face" so she was attempting to see through a foggy windshield.  Eventually I, the passenger, couldn't see the road at all so I took a cloth and wiped the front windshield clean.  When I did we were both astounded to see that we were driving through about half a meter of water on the ground!

Know the Car You're In

There are several excellent tips for driving in the rain from SmartMotorist.com, such as slow down and avoid breaking as much as possible, but I find these mostly to be common sense.  I do like that they added "avoid splashing pedestrians," which as a regular pedestrian I can appreciate, but you should be considerate first and foremost of your own life.  My biggest tip that didn't make this list applies the most to drivers in a car rental and that is to know the car you're driving in the rain.  In a 7 seater car hire, for example, you will want to be extra careful going around turns as your back wheels are more likely to lose traction and spin out in a longer vehicle.