With the recent heavy rain and localised flooding, motorists across Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire are being urged to take care and exercise caution. Localised flooding has occurred which is affecting normal driving routes across the three Counties.
If driving through larger puddles or smaller areas of standing water drive slowly and steadily, allow oncoming traffic to pass and always test your brakes after leaving the water. If water has flooded across a section of road it may be difficult to tell exactly how deep it is. If you do come across a road that is flooded DO NOT attempt to drive through the flood water. Not only is this putting yourself in danger; as little as an egg cup of water entering your engine is enough to wreck it.
Visibility can also be seriously reduced in heavy rain so headlights MUST be used, together with allowing a bigger gap between you and the car in front to allow for the increased stopping distance. If you are unlucky enough to breakdown in any further heavy rain, advice from the AA is to try and get the car to a safe and visible place, call for roadside assistance and wait for help to arrive.
Vicki Bristow from the Safer Roads Partnership comments: “We are urging all motorists to exercise caution with the recent heavy rain storm that we are currently experiencing, use common sense and follow our simple advice. Stay alert to local weather and news reports and if your local area is experiencing flooding it’s advisable to leave any non essential travel until the storm and flooding has subsided.”
