The steering goes light and you start to lose control: How do you deal with it?

Better yet, how do you avoid it?

You're aquaplaning. Although aqua indicates water, aquaplaning happens when something -- anything -- comes between your tire tread and the road. While most commonly caused by water, it could be wet leaves, sand or gravel thrown on the road, mud tracked on to it from a construction site or farm, black ice or snow -- anything that causes your tire tread to lose touch with the ground. The tread rides atop a film or layer of something that prevents it from translating your steering or braking instructions into expected vehicle motion.

There are three factors at play here: the tire tread, speed and the depth and makeup of the material on the road.

Tires are the most significant safety device on your vehicle. An expensive high-tech luxury or sports car on the wrong or worn tires can be a treacherous beast, while an old $1,000 beater on good tires can be as safe as a church in the same conditions. A heavy SUV or pickup on big open-lugged mudder tires can be a handful in full emergency braking on dry pavement. Tire selection, maintenance and knowledge is your first defence in dealing with aquaplaning.

Tire treads and compounds are engineered to accomplish a number of things -- one of them is to evacuate water or snow. It's a balancing act -- too much evacuation comes at the cost of grip, too much tread and too little provision for cutting through water or snow and it's a handful in those conditions. There is a reason racing teams have both wet and dry tires.

Generally speaking, tires can be divided into three categories -- summer, winter and all-season. Summer tires provide more grip on wet or dry surfaces, winter tires are engineered to remain supple in the cold, cut through snow and grip ice. All-season tires are a compromise between the two.

Whatever your tires, maintaining the proper pressure and monitoring tread depth is the key.

The depth and design of the tire tread contribute to its capability in direct proportion to speed. A tread that can cut through to the surface at 40 km/h may be completely separated from it at 100 km/h. The third issue -- depth and makeup of the material on the road is a little more obvious. A light sprinkling of rain on a clean, dry surface is much less treacherous than the same amount of water on old, worn pavement. Newer surfaces have more aggregate or small rough edges sticking up, providing grip. Older ones are worn smooth.

Temperature plays a role -- in hot, sunny conditions a film of grease or oil can ooze to the surface and when mixed with a little moisture create the perfect circumstances for loss of control. In very cold conditions tires are less supple and have less grip. No tire is designed to deal with a layer of wet leaves, heavy mud or sand -- but all can cause instant loss of traction.

Aquaplaning should be a constant concern, especially in poor conditions -- but it can crop up at any time and can be a bigger problem when we are not expecting it. Sudden rain squalls, surface puddles or worn grooves on older or more heavily travelled roads are common sources of problems.

Watch for and monitor road and surface conditions. Look for standing water, glance at approaching vehicles for signs of changes ahead. Do they have their wipers on? Is there water dripping off their undercarriage? Are they going slower than you would expect? In wet conditions look for changes in colour and shading that may mean deeper water.

In all cases, reduce speed to let the tire get back in touch with the road. How much you need to slow down will depend on the tire. If you've been trying to scrape the last few hundred kilometres out of those old tires and they are all but bald, a crawl would be advisable.

If you should encounter aquaplaning you'll sense it through the steering wheel if it is a front tire that has lost grip, and through the seat of your pants if at a rear tire is the problem. Ease off the throttle. If you were not travelling in a straight line, reduce steering input slowly and slightly. Do not hit the brakes or turn the steering wheel quickly. By slowing, you will transfer more weight to the front or steering wheels and by reducing steering input you will allow the tread to concentrate more on grip than turning.

Halifax-based Richard Russell operates a driving school.