The expert explained how the tire tread works on wet roads

As the tire wears out, its resistance to aquaplaning decreases significantly. For example, when driving on a road in heavy rain at 60 km/h, heavily worn tires resist aquaplaning twice as well as new ones, which significantly increases the risk of loss of grip. Oleg Markov, technical expert of the Cordiant holding, told Izvestia about this on April 17.

Aquaplaning is a process in which an uncontrolled loss of tire grip occurs when driving on a surface covered with water. This is due to the fact that a thin layer of water suddenly appears between the tread and the road, as a result, the tire abruptly loses its grip on the surface.

This situation is extremely unfavorable from the point of view of safety, since the car stops responding to any actions of the driver — both turning the steering wheel and pressing the brake pedal. Sections of road in the form of ruts filled with water during or after heavy rain can be especially dangerous.

"The ability of a tire to resist aquaplaning depends on the configuration and height of the tread pattern: a number of its elements are involved in water drainage, primarily the longitudinal grooves. The transverse slots, as well as the bends of the edges of the checkers and other features that are designed taking into account the laws of hydrodynamics, also help in the outflow of fluid. This helps to quickly remove fluid from the contact spot of the tire with the road," explained Markov.

He noted that some tire models use additional wear indicators, which can be used to independently determine that the tread wear of a particular tire has reached values at which the ability to drain water is greatly reduced (usually 3 mm). For greater safety and confidence when driving in the rain, it is recommended to replace such a tire with a new one, despite the fact that the maximum permissible tread residue for summer tires is 1.6 mm, the specialist recommended.

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