Hydroplaning Question

It hasn't rained in California in like years (exaggeration) There is this bridge across a freeway I drive every morning, and when it does rain a puddle forms. I like to drive through the puddle with my right tire createing a wave of water that washes down onto the freeway below. I think it's funny ok?

My question is, Can one or two wheels hitting a puddle of water like that, cause me to lose control, or do both my front tires have to hit? I drive an uplander (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Chevrolet_Uplander_LWB.jpg)

 

generally speaking, no Hydroplaning is the result of losing control because of your wheels losing contact with the road, as long as one side of the car remains in contact you should still maintain some measure of control. However, if the rest of the road is wet it may become slick enough to cause you to lose traction, thereby creating a similar circumstance to hydroplaning until such a time as the wheels regain surface friction. There is also the slight possibility of road degradation and erosion, many people have caused themselves large amounts of damage to their cars by driving over water that appeared shallow, which had in fact eroded the roadway itself, or simply filled in damage that was already there and made it appear undamaged, with the right weather conditions entire sections of road have gone missing due to water damage, it's never wise to drive into any standing water you can't see the road through.

 

If this section of road is gone, there is more at stake than just a pothole, it's a bridge

 

I live in Florida, rain capital of the USA.

You know it's 5pm because it's raining.

Generally hydro planing is much worse in rear wheel drive then front or all wheel drive.

This is just from personal experience.

And like spar said, better to be on the safe side and avoid it if possible or just slow down to a safer speed.

 

I drive on ice that has either water or snow on top of it.

Loose snow on top of ice is not good for traction but it is really good for drifting.

Hydroplaning is nasty because you're not as much expecting it to happen, instead of being constantly on edge you're going from optimal traction to zero traction.

Usually if your speed remains relatively unchanged having one side go through water is not so bad - you've got two tires to keep you from starting a spin.
Problems arise when you try to accelerate, though few people can accelerate fast enough to create a problem with it - but if you're forced to decelerate quickly it can create a lot of torque to your car when one side is slowing you down with tire contact and the other side is not slowing as fast due to the tire sliding on top of water. This can cause a spin.

Essentially, you can drive at almost any speed on almost any surface as long as both sides are good and the speed is unchanged. Stuff gets nasty when the sides have different tractions and your experiencing acceleration or deceleration or if you're in a curve.

 

I usually step the pedal to the metal when hydroplaning.