How to protect your car if hail is inevitable? This question torments not one motorist. The most sensible will say - look for shelter (service stations, bridges, any solid structures where you can drive a car, even visors in the parking lots of supermarkets and gas stations). But we all know that this is not always possible. And now, some of us find ourselves on the highway, where the nearest shelter can only be roadside trees. What to do in such a situation?
Situation "Clean field".
Here you will have to rely only on yourself and your thrift. As improvised means, rugs can come up, preferably rubber ones (the ones that are under your feet). They will at least soften the blows of hailstones a little. Also, by the way, there will be a plastic pallet in the trunk, which most people have.
Important: if there is no pallet and there is only fabric rugs- without a fixer, they will be useless, as they can be blown away by the wind. Therefore, across each rug in 2 places, it is necessary to attach tapes with rubber inserts and hooks, so that, having laid everything on the car, through the passenger compartment, as well as under the hood and under the trunk lid, stretch these tapes and fasten them with a rug with reverse side. In extreme cases, long ropes are also suitable - press the rugs against the roof with them and fix them with doors. Salvation is small, but the damage will help to minimize.
The situation is "near the trees."
Everything is easier and more difficult at the same time. It would seem that if you drive a car under a tree (especially a large one), then its branches will close your car from hail. But not everything is so simple. Not every tree will help you. But it can easily hurt. If the branches of the tree are soft or thin, then they will fly onto the roof of your car along with hailstones and only add to the hassle. If the tree has dense, hard wood, and you hide your car behind it (that is, close it from the headwind), then it can really simplify the situation a little. But, only with a headwind.
Important: you can not cover the car with a cotton blanket - it gets wet, fits well to the body and helps the hailstones deform the metal.
If hail caught you moving, stop. However, first look around (if visibility allows), if there is any shelter nearby (bridges, flyovers, garages, covered parking). If there is no suitable cover nearby, then make sure that you are not in the middle of the roadway, and, if possible, stay close to the edge of it. However, it should be borne in mind that the exit to the side of the road (especially into the lowlands) is dangerous, because. it can be eroded by heavy rainfall. Also, do not drive into places where hailstones accumulate, where the car may lose control.
And so that the tricky weather does not take you by surprise, before leaving (especially on long distance) check the contents of the trunk, and also check on the map the presence of gas stations, campsites, hundred, supermarkets along the way and write down their location. In addition, an air mattress in the trunk and a compressor powered by a cigarette lighter will also come in handy. But, here you have to run under the hail yourself.
And remember that the average duration of hail is about 6 minutes, and very rarely it lasts longer than 15 minutes.
Alas, the weather lately likes to present unpleasant surprises. Somewhere there is a flood, and somewhere there is hail the size of a chicken egg. Many, like us, simply sympathize with the victims while watching TV reports and do not think that this can happen to them.
And we didn't think… We weren't ready for the fact that hail the size of a chicken egg could fall in Ryazan.. rubles.
To prevent this from happening to you, we have prepared the following instructions based on an analysis of the situation and conversations with people who survived the hail.
Main What you want to pay attention to: Remember, Your life more expensive than the cost cars. Do not leave the car interior or run out to protect it without taking measures for your own safety! So let's start with that.
A construction helmet, a hat with earflaps in this situation will not look stupid. Hail that leaves dents on a car is capable of killing a person if it hits the head, but it leaves severe bruises on the body. Winter waterproof (because hail is often accompanied by rain) clothing (preferably sportswear, so as not to hamper movement) will be very useful. Umbrella does not save from hail, but only hinders.
If you are in a car
If you are eating and understand that hail is starting, slow down, evaluate the direction in which the hail is moving and try to get away from it. Those. at the nearest intersection we turn 180 degrees and leave to seek shelter. You should not look for shelter right in the direction of travel - for sure it is already occupied by other motorists.
Close to ideal shelter are gas station sheds. When escaping under bridges / overpasses and in tunnels, remember that you are violating traffic rules and can provoke an accident. The ban on stopping in these places was introduced for a reason. When escaping, do not block the passage of other vehicles, it may be necessary to pass to save someone's life.
Escaping under the trees is an extremely dubious option. Trees, of course, extinguish the energy of a flying "projectile", but under the influence of the wind they can break. And instead of a heap small dents you will get even more, possibly with damage to the power elements.
Avoid questionable polycarbonate designs - it will not help.
Car rescue from hail
If it is not possible to leave the hail zone and no shelter has been found, then it is necessary to stop. Inspection of the cars of the victims shows that the car in motion receives more severe damage. We remember physics about speeds and impulses.
We remind you, starting to rescue - protect yourself. If there is no headgear in the car, then we make it ourselves from the headrest cover of the seats and laying it with something airy (crumpled newspapers, bags, etc.). It's better to look stupid than dead.
In a critical situation like this, it's hard to think. If you put a pan on your head and start knocking on it, then you won’t add up 2 + 2. In the car under a hail of sensations the same. Therefore, we will immediately designate what to save and how to save a car from hail.
First of all, it is necessary to save the roof and other non-removable elements. The hood and trunk lid can be changed and, accordingly, we save them, if only there is something. With what? A picnic blanket from large ice floes will help little. We use it in last turn. We protect the roof rubber mats from the salon. Forgot about them? So the majority of those surveyed by us also forgot about their presence. But in vain. This the best remedy. Next, we start up the hood heaters and trunk lining. They are thick enough to help. Do not waste time on seat covers, as a rule, they are very well fixed and you will take them off more than once, especially if you do not have the opportunity to go outside. Remember, in a tilted state in a doorway, you can get a strong blow to the spine.
Saving car windows is the last thing. It costs 3,000 rubles to replace the glass. Repair of one body panel with painting from 5 thousand rubles. It is worth saving the glass only so that water does not get into the interior and then you do not have to dry-clean the interior.
That's all. We will cover the topic of repair in the next review.
You can tell us your thoughts and ways of protection in the comments.
Unfortunately, the vicissitudes of the weather, referred to as "global warming", really cause weather anomalies, which are becoming more and more every year. In those regions where tornadoes have never been seen, this phenomenon is no longer a sensation. Fires and floods, hurricane winds and ball lightning - all this falls on cities and towns with a frequency never seen before. One of these weather phenomena, no doubt, can be called hail. According to recent trends, the average size of ice particles falling from the sky is constantly increasing, and today it will not be difficult to find fresh photos of hailstones the size of a chicken egg and even larger on the web. Needless to say, falling under such a hail is not a pleasant pleasure. If you do not provide head protection, then, according to the still valid Newton's law, you can get in best case hematoma. Although an ice floe is inferior to stone in its density, it can compete with it in terms of hardness. A direct hit can easily break the skull, and this is far from so harmless.
Methods for protecting the car from hail.Although at first glance it may seem that a car has nothing to fear in hail, the fact that it has inclined and flat (in plan) surfaces makes them vulnerable. It doesn’t matter if it’s glass or metal: the acceleration of free fall makes the impact so strong that it even risks turning into a crumpled piece of metal, and the frontal or rear glass- in a sieve. How to protect your car from hail? Resourcefulness - good quality, but it does not always appear in necessary measure especially in critical situations. Therefore, it is better to prepare for a natural disaster in advance in order to have time to minimize the consequences of hail.
Should you save your car from hail?
It would seem a strange statement of the problem ... In fact, each of us must have been hit by hail, and in the vast majority of cases, there were no consequences. As a rule, as a result of this natural phenomenon, gardeners suffer, since hailstones of even a small size can seriously damage plantings of young vegetable plants. In late summer, hail is no longer so dangerous, since the stems are already formed enough to withstand the pressure of the elements. But how much hail can damage a car? You definitely should not be afraid if the maximum diameter of the hailstones does not exceed 10 millimeters. But sizes from 2 centimeters in diameter and more are already capable of causing certain damage to the car. Suffer first paintwork, especially on vehicles with high mileage. At very large sizes hailstones are an immediate danger, primarily to the rear and frontal, since they are not located vertically, like side ones, but at an angle, thereby increasing the angle of attack. And from the laws of physics it is known that a blow of enormous force, but in passing, will bring less trouble than a weak one, but hitting the forehead. So if the car has been hit by hail, you have time to decide whether it is worth taking urgent measures or whether it is enough to wait out the elements while sitting in the car.
What to do if hail caught on the way
The most effective way to escape is to take cover. In principle, a storm front never approaches gradually - if you are careful, you can always notice the signs of an impending thunderstorm and have time to take appropriate measures. Another thing is that only the most careful car owners hide from the rain, which in our time can be safely called museum exhibits. Whether a thunderstorm and hail brings with it, neither an authorized representative of the Hydrometeorological Center, nor the most successful astrologer can predict. So in most cases it is weather phenomenon takes you by surprise. And if you are in a car at this time, then, most likely, bad weather caught you on the way.
The main thing in such cases is not to panic and try to determine whether such hail can damage the car. If the danger seems real, you should find a suitable shelter for the car as soon as possible. It could be a visor petrol station or a roadside cafe. But here there is one important nuance: if you are determined to seek shelter, and not wait out the elements, you should determine the direction of the wind and go exclusively to the leeward side. It is impossible to move against the direction of the wind, since even relatively small hailstones can cause significant damage to the car. What else can be used as a suitable hail protection:
- , but here it is worth weighing the risk of damage from fallen branches, which increases significantly in hail. That is, trees as a shelter should be chosen in the absence strong wind, and even in this case, this is a very dubious option;
- overpasses and bridges, but they can only be used in cases where this is not a violation of traffic rules;
- billboards are also not reliable protection, but still, in the absence of other shelters, they will come down. The main thing is to choose the right place for the car, since such a design is usually located at a considerable height. The safe area can be located at some distance from the shield.
If there is no suitable cover in sight, it is hardly worth continuing to move. The explanation for this statement is quite simple. The fact is that the horizon line under normal conditions is located about four kilometers from the observer. At a speed of 60 km / h (and you are unlikely to dare to go faster in hail), it will take 5 minutes to overcome this distance. Given that the average duration of this phenomenon is short and ranges from a few to 10, maximum 15 minutes, by the time you get to the nearest shelter, the hail will most likely just end. So you will risk absolutely in vain.
It is best to turn off the engine and try to protect those parts of the car that may be affected in the first place (while not forgetting about yourself). Most of the advice boils down to protecting the roof first. This is true due to the financial factor: repairing this is much more difficult and many times more expensive than replacing glass, trunk lid or hood. However, from the point of view of susceptibility to damage, glass is considered to be the most fragile element of the car: they can crack when hailstones fall that cannot damage the paintwork.
We will talk about how and how to cover the car later, but for now we note that if you decide to stop and wait out the elements, then you should set emergency sign, and at a sufficiently large distance from the car - in such bad weather, visibility is rapidly deteriorating. The hour is uneven, such a lover of bad weather will be found who decides to continue moving, and in conditions insufficient visibility it can easily hook your car. Fortunately, the task of finding the nearest shelter is quite simple if you have access to the Internet and mobile device, which has the Yandex.Maps or Google Maps application installed. Of course, a car navigator will also work, which will indicate the nearest objects that are acceptable for use as a temporary shelter.
If the hail caught in an open area
The further south the region, the poorer it is in vegetation - this rule is far from always true, but for Russian conditions it is done for the most part. Quite vast territories are steppes or agricultural lands, where there are no natural shelters such as trees. The gentle folds of the terrain are also hardly good cover. In a word, the chance that bad weather will find you in an open field is quite high. But the situation is not hopeless. You can save the car from damage, the main thing is to act quickly and be smart. In fact, in any car, if desired, you can always find improvised means that can be used as protective elements for windows and body parts. Moreover, some of them are an indispensable element of the interior of the vehicle.
What to protect in the first place is up to you. When damaged windshield you are unlikely to be able to continue driving - you have to, therefore, to the amount that you have to spend on installing new glass, you need to add the cost of evacuating your car. And if you're stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere, it's not at all obvious that roof repairs will cost you less. In any case, the rear window, as well as the hood and trunk lid, should be protected last, since they can be called consumables with a certain degree of conditionality.
We have already said that if you do not carry a special protective agent with you (which is unlikely), then there are certainly floor mats in the cabin. Yes, you got it right - these four rugs are enough to cover the windows. And the pallet that is in the trunk can serve as quite acceptable protection for the roof. It is not worth worrying about the fact that the material for making rugs is able to dampen the impacts of large hailstones - if it can withstand the bullying of your shoes for many years, then you should not worry about short-term hail. But you will have to solve another problem - how to strengthen the rugs, especially on the windows, because any gust of wind is able to destroy such an impromptu bastion in the blink of an eye. A thrifty car owner always has a cylinder of scotch tape in the glove compartment - it is he who can be put into action. A less attractive option is to use tow rope. Of course, rag. Pieces of rope, as well as ties, with which luggage is strengthened, will be used (if any). That is, this is exactly the case when you have to show natural ingenuity.
If it is not possible to strengthen the rugs, you can try to cover them with clothes or a piece of fabric of the appropriate size. In principle, if there was a lot of such goodness in the car, they can cover both the roof and the rest body elements. True, one layer is clearly not enough, especially with hailstones of large fractions. You can not mention random things that ended up in luggage compartment. To save a car from hail, for example, an inflatable mattress, taken with you to relax on a pond, will help (but you need to have time to pump it up at least 30 percent, which, of course, is unlikely, given the transience of this natural phenomenon). Many motorists carry a cover with them, which serves as a shelter for the car when parking on outdoors. Their tread properties should be enough to protect against hail, the main thing is to try to pull it onto the body as soon as possible.
If the hail caught in the forest belt
Trees are, in principle, a fairly reliable natural shelter from any bad weather, including hail. But there are two important factors to consider here:
- you should choose only strong, powerful-looking trees, without broken branches, otherwise there is a risk of damage not from hail, but from fallen branches;
- with very strong gusts of wind, which are a frequent companion of hail, trees can no longer be called reliable protection. If there is nowhere to go, choose places where they stand quite densely and are able to put out gusts of wind together. Single trunks are more vulnerable. This rule is very relevant in urban areas, where it is better to look for another shelter.
In principle, we have analyzed all possible options for how to protect a car from hail. It remains only to consider what can be used as a shelter for the car.
How to cover a car
We have already considered how to cover the car from hail, if you have not prepared in advance for the pressure of the ice element. But there is always the opportunity to take care of the safety of the exterior ahead of time. Here options a lot more. You can carry with you, for example, the remains of a roll of underlay for a laminate or something similar. If this seems exotic to some, there are alternative way. In the household departments of supermarkets, bubble wrap is sold. It costs a penny, and takes up little space in the trunk. True, after a single use, it will most likely have to be thrown away, but hail does not happen every day. But the best way one should recognize the purchase of a special anti-hail awning / cape / cover, since there are plenty of offers for such products. If it is available, protecting the car from hail with your own hands will require you only to react quickly.
Car protection in an open parking lot
Unfortunately, most residents of megacities are not able to provide for their “ iron horse» permanent residential housing. The option with covered parking is also considered quite expensive, so the majority of cars are forced to stand in the open - in paid / free city parking lots or directly in the yard. In such cases, from the weather, a waterproof cover is usually used, which perfectly protects against snow or rain, but may be useless in hail. So the most best option- the use of special awnings, which we have already mentioned. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account such moments as the presence of trees or fragile metal, plastic and wooden structures near the parking lot. The car should be placed out of reach of these objects when they fall. If you park the car in the country, avoid fences, and wooden ones are less dangerous than those made of metal profiles - it will not be difficult for a strong gust of wind to tear off a flimsy sheet, which is dangerous not only for the car, but also for people who happen to be nearby at that moment. If you don’t want to spend money on buying an anti-hail coating (the minimum cost is from 1,500 rubles), you can sew a protective cover yourself. At least this way you can save about half of the money.
What to do if the car could not be covered
The main rule for those who fell under the hail and could neither find shelter nor cover the car is to stop. If it is not possible to avoid shelling with ice buckshot, you can minimize the damage done. At the same time, it is advisable to turn the car in such a way as to expose the rear or side parts under hailstones - a hole in the windshield will not allow you to go further, and the same rear defect is not so dangerous. On the sides of the machine, the surfaces are vertical, which automatically reduces the force of impact, which will fall on a tangent. There is another rule that will help reduce the amount of loss. If you nevertheless found some things in the trunk or cabin that can serve as protection against large ice floes, it is better to cover one body part, but completely, than many, but partially. Even a single damage to the roof or glass will force you to change both entirely.
But what to do if the car is still beaten by hail? First of all, don't panic. At present, technologies have already been developed and tested that provide the possibility of leveling small dents without the need to paint this area. You will only have to find services that provide the service of "paintless straightening". Although it is more expensive than conventional straightening works, it is much cheaper than painting. Not to mention replacement body part entirely.
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How to protect your car if hail is inevitable? This question torments not one motorist. The most sensible will say - look for shelter (service stations, bridges, any solid structures where you can drive a car, even visors in the parking lots of supermarkets and gas stations). But we all know that this is not always possible. And now, some of us find ourselves on the highway, where the nearest shelter can only be roadside trees. What to do in such a situation?
Situation "Clean field".
Here you will have to rely only on yourself and your thrift. As improvised means, rugs can come up, preferably rubber ones (the ones that are under your feet). They will at least soften the blows of hailstones a little. Also, by the way, there will be a plastic pallet in the trunk, which most people have.
Important: if there is no pallet and there are only fabric rugs, they will be useless without a fixer, as they can be blown away by the wind. Therefore, across to each rug in 2 places, it is necessary to attach tapes with rubber inserts and hooks, so that, having laid everything on the car, through the passenger compartment, as well as under the hood and under the trunk lid, stretch these tapes and fasten with the rug on the reverse side. In extreme cases, long ropes are also suitable - press the rugs against the roof with them and fix them with doors. Salvation is small, but the damage will help to minimize.
The situation is "near the trees."
Everything is easier and more difficult at the same time. It would seem that if you drive a car under a tree (especially a large one), then its branches will close your car from hail. But not everything is so simple. Not every tree will help you. But it can easily hurt. If the branches of the tree are soft or thin, then they will fly onto the roof of your car along with hailstones and only add to the hassle. If the tree has dense, hard wood, and you hide your car behind it (that is, close it from the headwind), then it can really simplify the situation a little. But, only with a headwind.
Important: you can not cover the car with a cotton blanket - it gets wet, fits well to the body and helps the hailstones deform the metal.
If hail caught you moving, stop. However, first look around (if visibility allows), if there is any shelter nearby (bridges, overpasses, garages, covered parking lots). If there is no suitable cover nearby, then make sure that you are not in the middle of the roadway, and, if possible, stay close to the edge of it. However, it should be borne in mind that the exit to the side of the road (especially into the lowlands) is dangerous, because. it can be eroded by heavy rainfall. Also, do not drive into places where hailstones accumulate, where the car may lose control.
And so that tricky weather does not take you by surprise, before leaving (especially for long distances), check the contents of the trunk, and also check on the map the presence of gas stations, campsites, hundred, supermarkets along the way and write down their location. In addition, an air mattress in the trunk and a compressor powered by a cigarette lighter will also come in handy. But, here you have to run under the hail yourself.
And remember that the average duration of hail is about 6 minutes, and very rarely it lasts longer than 15 minutes.
Good weather and good mood to you. Your m2motors:-)
