Obviously stomping on the brakes and locking the wheels up would only lead to even less control, but why are you not supposed to at least slightly press the brakes in order to decelerate?
In: Physics
You’re floating on water at the point you start hydroplaning. Braking will lock the tires and could cause the car to go out of control. You won’t be able to steer.
When you are hydroplaning your tires are more-or-less floating on top of the water. They are not touching the pavement in any substantial way for them to be able to decelerate you. So even lightly touching the breaks will just cause the tires to seize up same as stomping on them.
You keep the breaks off so that when the car slows down enough naturally your tires will grab the pavement and start turning. This will allow you to regain control of the car faster.
i was taught, way way back when, that if your wheels start to slip on ice, on water, on oil, or any other road surface that’s not solid, that you should rapidly pump the brakes on and off. this allows the wheels to gather up a little of what you’re slipping on, then allows the wheel to rotate over it, to clear out the treads, and attempt to re-establish grip.
this is somewhat similar to how ABS works.. only more slowly, and much less reliably. i cant say it overly works, because on the very very few occasions i could have used that nugget, i was too busy shitting myself ..
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