Dear clients and past patrons,
First of all we at Dollar driving school would like to wish everyone a safe and healthy and prosperous 2016.
The reason we are reaching out to our past patrons and clients is to remind everyone that this is an El Niño year. What this means is that our normal driving habits need to be flexible and modified with the rainy season ahead. Clearly in a drought ridden state we find ourselves needing much rain ahead, this also means that we have to be extra cautious. Extra cautious are two words possibly even a thought you will keep present in your mind. I would like to give you some pointers that you should clearly take into consideration in the rainy season.
1. Please keep an increased following distance, more than you would normally exercise. In the rain a 6 to 8 second following distance can make all the difference. For those of you who forget how to calculate the following distance take a fixed point in front of you, when a car passes that point start counting seconds until you reach that point. 70% of all car collisions are rear end collisions a good safe cushion will keep you most likely out of trouble and danger.
2. Please consider slowing down in rainy weather and wet surfaces. It really does not matter what other people think or do what does matter is getting to your destination safely. Cars generally begin to hydroplane somewhere between 35 to 45 mph. There are numerous variables due to condition of tires and design of vehicles, nevertheless upwards of 45 mph on wet surfaces is clearly tricky in an emergency situation. Remember the only rush that exists is between our ears it is better to lose a second in our lives then lose our lives in a second.
3. Please remember when you can exercise the option of going out on the road in severe weather conditions or staying where you are, often a smart choice is stay where you are.
4. Please remember when driving on wet roads and you find yourself traversing large bodies of water or large pools of water to slow down significantly as traction between your wheels may be different and what lies below the surface of the water is not visible. You may think you are going through two or three inches of water and hit a severe pothole that could damage your car that you could not see.
5. Please remember when driving on winding roads that have angled surfaces where streams of water run from one side of the road to the other to slow down when traversing those areas as they can cause loss of traction resulting in out of control skidding in curves.
6. Make sure that your windshield wipers work and you have wipers that are new or in good condition to clear away rain. Make sure that your brakes are functioning properly. Make sure that your tires are in good condition with plenty of tread, and tire pressure is correct. This all sounds and should be elementary, but sometimes as humans are, they forget to check these simple lifesaving measures.
I hope these pointers are of assistance to you and your families, friends and love ones. Please remember that Dollar Driving School made every effort to teach you how to drive safely and intelligently we hope you continue in that manner.
Finally we look forward to serving you and your families and friends in the future. Wishing you safe and happy travels.
Dollar Driving School
