Flooding – driving advice
From time to time we will be publishing news stories on Shropshire Newsroom from our partner organisations. The following is from Safer Roads Partnership:
Flooding – driving advice
With the recent heavy rain and localised flooding, motorists across Shropshire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire 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 floodwater. This is 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 rainstorm 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.”
Further information
The Safer Roads Partnership is part of West Mercia Police, and works in partnership with the four local highway authorities in West Mercia (Herefordshire Council, Shropshire Council, Telford and Wrekin Council and Worcestershire County Council); the Highways Agency; HM Courts Service – West Mercia; the two Fire & Rescue Services for Hereford and Worcester, and Shropshire; and West Mercia Cluster of Primary Care Trusts.
