Watroplaning
I should write a book... Highway Waterskiing: A practical guide to hypdroplaning on the freeway.
This happened yesterday, but it was pouring down rain and there was a lot of water on the road. I was in the middle lane, and traffic was pretty heavy, but still moving along at 55-65mph.
As I made a minor correction, I noticed that the steering felt a little funny, a little too easy, as if I was on ice. I still had my foot (very lightly) on the gas, just keeping up with traffic, but I suddenly noticed that the "low traction" light was lighting up. Realizing that I was more or less hydroplaning, my instinct was to let off the gas, but I had a truck bearing down on me so I gently gave her some gas again, trying to get to where I could move to the right lane and slow down. However, just touching the gas caused traction control to engage and lit up my "low traction" light. I continued along white-knuckled for a few more seconds, looking for a break in traffic.
I finally managed to move over to the right and coasted down to 45-50 mph but then I had to try very hard to stay out of the ruts in the road that were full of water. I got off at the very next exit, but even travelling at the slower speed until I got to the offramp, I felt as if I was waterskiing the whole time. This was probably the scariest non-accident event I've ever had in a car.
:cue the end-of-family-sitcom-falling-action-music:
Moral: Getting new tires BEFORE the old ones completely wear out could be both fun and helpful for not dying.
