Which of the following is true about driving on a wet roadway?
- As you drive faster, your tires become less effective. ✓
- Water does not affect cars with good tires.
- Deep water is less dangerous than shallow water.
- As you decrease your speed, the roadway becomes more slippery.
Answer: A. As you drive faster, your tires become less effective.
As you drive faster on a wet road, your tires become less effective at gripping the surface.
Why this is the answer
The Texas handbook warns that wet roads are slippery and make the car harder to control, so you should slow down and leave more room. It also cautions that even chains or snow tires do not let you keep normal speeds on slick pavement, so good equipment does not cancel the need to reduce speed. That fits the idea that higher speed leaves your tires less able to do their job.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Water does not affect cars with good tires. — Good tires do not make water harmless; the handbook says slick pavement still limits traction and even special tires or chains do not let you drive at normal speeds.
- C. Deep water is less dangerous than shallow water. — The handbook says nothing that makes deep water safer than shallow water; it treats wet, slippery roads as a traction problem and tells you to slow down.
- D. As you decrease your speed, the roadway becomes more slippery. — Slowing down does not make the roadway more slippery; the handbook says wet roads are slippery and advises reducing speed to keep control.
Remember it
Think traction first: the wet road is slick, and more speed leaves less grip to work with.