Manual:
How can we drive smoothly and safely if we encounter a swampy road?
Recommended reading time: 2 minutes
Recently, Guangdong has experienced frequent heavy rains, and overnight it turned into a swimming pool. The biggest worry for car owners is that their cars will be wrecked when they are parked on side of road, or their garages will be flooded or they won't be able to start when driving on a flooded road. So, when we encounter swampy roads, how can we get through smoothly and safely?
#1
Relatively safe fording height
Some experienced drivers have always assumed that half-tire water level is a relatively safe height for wading. Once this limit is exceeded, we must stop moving forward. Otherwise, if accumulated water does not exceed height of air intake, vehicle will immediately stall. In severe cases, accumulated water will spill into engine and cause permanent damage.
So, when a car owner hits a wet patch of road, don't assume he's driving an SUV and rush forward. Instead, he needs to stop to observe depth of swampy road and then decide if he can pass safely.
How do you know how deep standing water is? Generally, you can observe situation of vehicle in front first, if vehicle in front can pass smoothly under conditions of similar models, then you can also pass through wetland on your way.
#2
Turn off auto start and stop
In addition, when passing through wetland, we also need to pay attention to following points: disable automatic start and stop function;
The most taboo thing in process of crossing a ford is to turn off engine halfway. Car owners whose cars are equipped with automatic engine start and stop should remember to disable this function. Otherwise, when car swerves on a swampy road, whether you like it or not, as long as you press accelerator pedal or release brake, or even turn steering wheel, engine will restart, so you may only face an overhaul.
More importantly, since insurance company will only settle claim if there is no secondary fire for wading insurance, automatic start-stop system of engine is not closed, as a result of which all losses caused by restarting wetland can only be carried by owner.
#3
Slow down, shift to lowest gear
Before wading, we must follow principle of "go fast on sand, slow on water", reduce speed of car, and then shift to a lower gear so that water sprayed at too high a speed does not enter car. In addition, moving forward in a low gear can also keep engine speed high, which helps to flush out accumulated water from side when vehicle exhaust is released to avoid unnecessary engine damage.
Overview
Therefore, in rainy season, it is better not to rush through transition sections to save time by taking short cuts, especially in low-lying sections of culverts and overpasses, where likelihood of engine stall is quite high. As soon as car breaks down, never start a fire again, but immediately call rescuers and entrust this matter to professionals.
What do you think about this, please leave a message for discussion in comment area.