Freaky weather

[rbpru]

We were driving home on an absolutely gorgeous blue bird day, secondary roads, 55 mph and very light traffic; when boom we get smacked by a cross wind.

This may be common out West but in Indiana it is rare. Fortunately it was preceded by dark skies so we were not completely surprised. With the TT on the back and a canoe on the roof we had quite a sail going for us.

Next came the rain, the typical goose drownder that accompanies these storms.

The reason for this post is the observation of speed vs. road feel. Dry and clear the towing sweet spot was 58 to 60 mph. Cross wind and 50 was max. The rain was the real speed killer given the darkness and wet roads 35 to 40 mph was the max.

I realize it is a "feel of the road" thing but I was curious how fast other drive in very wet weather.

[Doug33]

The biggest risk when towing during a hard rain are the other people on the highway that decide to slow down to a crawl or actually stop on the road. If it is really extreme, it can be justified to pull over on the shoulder and stop. But I've seen a lot of people drive slow with their flashers on, even if it is just raining normally. If the visibility is limited, you can come up quickly on some other drivers that have slowed considerably.

[RavensFan24]

EVERYONE in Maryland seems to put on their flashers as soon as the rain starts. It's the dumbest move ever. Putting on your flashers like that with a 7 ton rig behind you or worse yet, a 40 ton tractor trailer, forces the larger vehicle to think about maneuvering around you in bad weather because we aren't sure if you're having an emergency or just being stupid.

Hazard lights are meant to allow someone to spot you amongst other cars in traffic in case of emergency. If everyone has their hazard lights on, the police, ambulance or anyone else would never be able to find the one person in the crowd with an actual emergency.

[rbpru]

I have alway understood that the flashers meant stopped or very slow speed; certainly in the right lane.

Maybe they did not get the memo.

[RavensFan24]

OMG, Driving to MD we hit patches of hard rain. As soon as the water hit the windshield, everyone turned on their hazard lights. It got to a point where the rain was actually really bad and all the flashing hazards meant I didn't know if the person in front of me was stopped or just driving with their flashers on. I ended up pulling over to avoid the stupidity of others.

Another time later on in the same trip it started to rain again, but barely at all and this guy flips on his hazard lights and is accelerating and then moves to the left lane, passes someone and moves back over, all with his hazard lights on in a drizzle.

This kind of stuff makes me want to encourage more Darwinism.

[Dog_Folks]

campigloo wrote:
Same as above, whatever conditions allow. Just a.note folks, please don't turn your 4-ways on and get in the left lane going half the speed everyone else is. Turn your headlights on and get in the right lane. Riding with 4-ways on is distracting and can be confusing to other drivers. I got behind one last week doing that. I slowed to let them over until I realized the signal on the other side of the vehicles was being blocked by another. Result, more backup and tailgating.

Also moving with your 4-way flashers on is illegal in Florida.

We travel at speeds appropriate to conditions, which is "slow."

[campigloo]

Same as above, whatever conditions allow. Just a.note folks, please don't turn your 4-ways on and get in the left lane going half the speed everyone else is. Turn your headlights on and get in the right lane. Riding with 4-ways on is distracting and can be confusing to other drivers. I got behind one last week doing that. I slowed to let them over until I realized the signal on the other side of the vehicles was being blocked by another. Result, more backup and tailgating.

[Anmacc2]

Living in South Florida we sometimes (often) get torrential downpours! Being used to it, if traffic allows, I tend toward maintaining or minimally reducing my speed. In one instance I was moving along, looked in my mirror and realized my TT was tracking to the right being pushed by the side wind. Tapped the trailer brakes manually and realized the trailer was hydro planing. I slowly decelerated, not using the brakes, and I could feel the drag when the trailer tires made contact with the pavement. As for speed.... Yeah as road conditions, visibility, and traffic allow.

[Trackrig]

I drive by the feel of the road as you said and visibility. I've also found that very strong driving lights help in heavy downpours as they give you better visibility and therefore confidence in what you're doing. I can't give you a speed because each situation is different.

And speaking of wind gusts, last year I had a gust hit our DP in the side up in Montana someplace. It was so strong that it actually moved the Velvac mirror out of adjustment. I had to get out the allen wrenches, go outside and adjust it.

Bill