What to do at a ford

This article is about driving through a ford, not about driving a Ford car.

When you see a warning sign for a ford you should naturally slow down. Then look at the ford and assess the depth of the water. Assuming that the water is not too deep, you should drive through the ford. Generally at the centre it will be the shallowest, allow if there is a camber beneath the ford this can change, so generally just pick the point where the water is lowest if there is a visible difference.

Once you are through the ford you should now test your brakes. This simply requires you to drive slowly with first gear selected and have your right foot on the accelerator and left foot on the brake. This will help to dry out the brakes, as of course when driving through the water in the ford it is possible that they will have got quite wet.

And that's it - by being sensible, assessing the depth of the water, going through slowly and then testing the brakes afterwards to help to dry them out if they got wet, you will have passed through the ford and can carry on driving.

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