Wet-Weather Technique

The handbook's wet-weather instruction is short, and every item is a grip-management decision:

Smooth steering, braking and accelerating. Grip is a budget, and in the wet the budget is small. Sudden inputs spend more than the surface can give, which is how the skid starts — the handbook lists sudden braking and sharp turning among the direct causes of skidding. Everything gradual: brake earlier and lighter, turn earlier and gentler, accelerate progressively.

Look ahead and plan your movements. Braking and steering that were decided early can be done gently; braking and steering decided late must be done hard, which is precisely what the surface can't accept. In the wet, planning is a traction technique, not just good practice.

Drive in the clear sections of the road where you can — avoiding standing water, the ruts where water collects, and the polished centre of a worn lane.

Leave more space. Your stopping distance has grown by roughly half, and the vehicle ahead can still stop in its wet distance. The 4-second rule from following-distance practice is the minimum here, not the target — and more when visibility is poor, since you're also reacting later.

Two prerequisites the handbook makes explicit, both belonging to The Daily Check: wiper blades in good condition with no streaking, and clean glass inside and out (the inside films over and turns every oncoming light into glare). Neither is an optional refinement — in rain they are the difference between seeing the hazard and meeting it.