What causes a car to ‘aquaplane’ in wet weather?

A WEDGE of water can build up between the tyre and the road when driving at high speed on wet roads.

If water gets in front of the tyres faster than the amount of water that the weight of the vehicle can push out of way, the water wedge will lift the tyre and can reduce tyre contact with the road. This makes the vehicle unresponsive to steering, braking and accelerating. Usually, new tyres can disperse up to 30 litres of water per second at 80 km/h.

The aquaplaning problem usually happens when there is a puddle of standing water on the surface of the road and a vehicle wants to pass through at high speed.

Therefore, the main factors contributing to aquaplaning are vehicle speed, tyre tread depth and water depth. When the speed of a vehicle increases, wet traction dramatically reduces.

No specific speed has been reported to reduce the risk of aquaplaning, but there are some suggestions to stay under 60 km/h. It is suggested to avoid sudden speed changes as this can put the vehicle at a greater risk. The transition point (the point at which the vehicle becomes waterborne) can happen at different speeds for different tyres. For example, wider tyres need higher speeds for aquaplaning. Worn tyres have been shown to have less resistance to aquaplaning. Research has shown that other tyre parameters such as tread patterns and tyre pressure have an effect on the transition point. Regarding water depth, it is a little tricky. We know that deeper water paddles create a higher possibility of losing traction. However, it should be noted that thin layers of water in the right circumstances can cause aquaplaning too.