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Show it dawned on me that “One dayit iwastiorthg my husband to death.” The Most Treacherous Driving Hazard of All: It's “Hydroplaning” By Theron R. Ledford It was as if my automobile had suddenly turned into an airplane. It was traveling weightlessly at an increasing angle along a mercifully uncrowded, wet freeway, the land- scape revolving and moving closer. Basic rules remembered, I tried to turn the wheels in the direction of the skid and pressed the accelerator gently in search of controlling power. But the steering wheel spun loosely,as if it were no longer connected to the steering mechanism; the engine raced ineffectually. Then there was a jerk, the car buffeted and swayed crazily, and with a terrific whipping jolt, it stopped in the center of the grass median strip-—perpendicular to the opposing lanes of traffic. Unbuckling the seat belt—bless it—I stepped out onto the sodden turf. When you're married as long as I am, you cau reach a point used to when we first were married and we'd One day it dawned on me that I was boring my husband to death. It was hard for me to admit it—but it was true. It wasn't that I didn’t love Jim, but by the homeat I decided that I had to do . [ had seen an advertisement for a tablet called Vivarin. It said that Vivarin was a non-habit forming stimulant tablet that would give me a quick lift. Last week there were a couple of evenings when felt that I needed Vivarin. So, on those days, I took a Vivarin tablet at 5:00 p.m., just about an hour ‘Jim came home, and I found time to pretty up a little, too. It worked. All of a sudden Jim was coming home to a more exciting woman, me. Wetalk to each other a lot more than we havein years—like we It was not untii several years later, as I was watching a NASAfilm, that I finally knew what had happened on that rain-soaked freeway. What I had experienced was something aeronautic and automotive engineers call “hydroplaning.” Researched for years by NASA in connection with the problemsof aircraft tires operating on wet runways, hydro- planing takes place when water penetrates between a tire and the pavement on which it is revolving. This surface water can build up a pressure which literally lifts the tire from the road surface. When this happens, the vehicle <a skims over a film of water. ne tends to make itself known at the very moment when control is most important—in entering a curve, or while seeking to pass another car. Even a sudden gust of wind can throw a hydroplaning vehicle into a sickening and -dangerous slide. Hydroplaning can happen whenever the surface water on a roadway is deeper than the tread of the tires on a vehicle traveling along it. With badly worn tires and a smooth road surface—concrete or asphalt—a surface water depth of only four-hundredths of an inch is enough to cause hydroplaning. Because the loss of traction in hydroplaning makes the traditional skid-control techniques useless, the best weapon against it is prevention. An essential for this is good tires, inflated with an eye toward maximum safety rather than maximum softness of ride. And, as for all adverse driving condi- tions, a healthy respect for the potential hazards of a wet road is probably mest basic. Slow down, increase following distance, watch out for standing water and sudden gusts of wind. And, if you must Pass, pass with utmost caution. Hydroplaning is, of course, only one of the hazards of the wet road. Plain old skidding is also a danger—particularly during the first few minutes of rain, when dust, oil and other skid-producing substances on the pavement have been loosened and emulsified. Efforts are being made to overcome these problems—requirer.aents for tread-depth indicators on tires and grooving of pevements for rear-wheel spray suppressors. 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