What should I do while driving a heavy rain? September 5, 19:17

Local heavy rains that do not know when and where. There are many other places in the country. On the Internet, there are a series of posts stating that there was danger due to heavy rain while driving a car. What should we do at such times?

Screaming during heavy rain Truck submersion ...

On the 3rd, there was a sudden heavy rain in Yokohama, and a series of posts screamed on Twitter.

"It was too heavy and I couldn't even see the high speed wipers before. “I was afraid of being out of sight at high speed! If you slow down, you ’ll get a rear-end collision, so the car in front might do something suddenly.”

Inabe City, Mie Prefecture, the truck was submerged in the underpass where water accumulated due to the heavy rain from the night of the 4th. On the 5th, a man who appeared to be a driver was rescued from the car, but his death was confirmed.

Beware of heavy rain while driving

What should we do when we experience a sudden heavy rain while driving?

When I asked a sales company of a major automobile manufacturer, the first thing to be aware of is that it is a “water basin”.

Many cars can continue to run if the water level is lower than the door opening, so it is desirable to drive to a higher location before the water level increases.

Also, because the field of view becomes very bad, I would like you to think about slowing down, in some cases turning on a hazard ramp, stopping the car beside the road, and waiting for the rain to subside.

And how can you avoid the danger if you have an underpass in front of you and another car behind you?

If the underpass is familiar and you can judge that the water level is clearly lower than the opening of the door, you may be able to pass through if you run slowly so as not to roll up the water.

However, there is a danger of submergence if the road is not normally passed or the water level is unknown, so even if a car is coming from behind, you should never enter the underpass and make a U-turn. . However, it is not easy to take appropriate actions at once.

“Mind switch” to detect danger

We asked Prof. Nobuyuki Ushiyama of Shizuoka University who is familiar with disaster information and evacuation behavior, including his daily attitude.

Q. “What should I do with heavy rain while driving?”

A. "I feel safe when I'm in the car, but the engine stops unexpectedly and the body floats in the water, so it's not much different from walking."

According to Professor Ushiyama's survey, half of the deaths from storms and floods died outside the house. It ’s important to understand that even if you ’re in a car, the outdoors are dangerous.

Q. “I (reporter) also experienced a torrential rain during the heavy traffic on the road at night. I felt it was difficult to immediately find out that I was involved in a disaster, but I wanted to quickly detect the danger. What should I do? "

A. "When there is a heavy rain warning or record short-time heavy rain information, it is necessary to be careful when it is raining unexpectedly. Look at the hazard map of the neighborhood of your home or commuting route, Please check not only the river but also the location of the underpass, and I would like you to use a weather information app that informs you of the approaching rain clouds and put a “mind switch” to detect danger. ”

Suddenly heavy rain hits this time. It seems that you need to think about how you want to act.