Professional race car driver reveals 5 tips everybody should know for safe driving on wet roads

REUTERS/Toru Hanai

April is a challenging month for driving.

"Any time that there's rain you can get difficult conditions," Andrew Comrie-Picard, a professional race car driver and stunt driver said.

But in early spring — when lots of rainfall combines with low temperatures and roads battered by the previous winter — drivers can encounter surprisingly challenging conditions.

Comrie-Picard, who has competed in a 20 year long string of off-road races in forests, deserts, and snow around the world, knows what to do when driving conditions are not ideal.

He gave Business Insider his list of things that everyone can do to drive safely when roads are wet. 

1. Drive smoothly.

"The tricky thing about standing water, like black ice, is that it can be difficult to see," Comrie-Picard said.

So when a driver is surprised by a loss in traction from hydroplaning, the idea is not to react, but to "ride it out" like a racing driver would.

"Pro drivers are really calm in the car. No sudden movements," Comrie-Picard said. "You are always trying to ride it out. It's all about maintaining the car's balance at the point when you loose traction, and anticipating that traction coming back."

Attempting to steer while the front tires are still not gripping means a driver has no feedback with which to gauge how much control is needed, and they will often over correct.

"If you are suddenly in a poor traction situation and you make a sudden control input it's likely to have consequences that you didn't intend," Comrie-Picard said. 

"The rule is: when you feel that softness in the steering wheel just hold on and ride it out."

That is especially the case when moving around a corner. While an inexperienced driver may instinctively want to get away from whatever lies on the outside of the turn, over correcting may doom them to hit it if they loose grip.

2. Keep your eyes up.

"In racing, we are actually looking at the horizon or through the traffic in front of us." Comrie-Picard said. "If you are looking three, five car lengths in front of your car it's too late to take any evasive action."

"Keep your eyes up," Comrie-Picard said.

Drivers who look well ahead are likely to not only notice trouble, but also have time to create escape options before they encounter the problem.

3. Don't look where you don't want to go.

The body follows the eyes, Comrie-Picard said.

"It's an interesting and proven bit of physiology.

"If you start to skid suddenly and you look at that 18-wheeler that just stopped or that tree on the side of the road or that boulder, you are almost certain to hit it."

Motorcyclists know this well: if a rider looks at what they want to avoid, their body weight — and therefore the bike — will move toward it. The same is true about drivers.

"If a car panic-stops in front of you, even if there is a gap to the left, if your eyes go wide and you stare at that car you going to drill right into that car," Comrie-Picard said. "But if you are looking at that gap, you will start to think, 'I have options.'"

"There have been a number of instances where something, an accident has happened in front of me and I've looked to the shoulder or to other places and I've gotten there, no problem," Comrie-Picard said. "I've had the guy behind me run into the one that stopped in front."

He attributes that ability to being a trained and experienced racing driver; but that's not to say all drivers can't learn this technique in normal conditions.

Comrie-Picard suggests drivers practice looking farther ahead than they normally would, and practice identifying road conditions and obstacles well in advance of arriving at them.