Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Saw cut grooves across the surface let water escape sideways so tyres keep contact in heavy rain. The figure is taken from Federal Aviation Administration, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a technology fact?

Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Runways are grooved to stop aquaplaning

Saw cut grooves across the surface let water escape sideways so tyres keep contact in heavy rain Standing water on a smooth runway can lift a tyre onto a film of water, and braking and steering vanish until speed falls. Grooves cut across the surface drain that film and were widely adopted after tests in the 1960s showed much shorter stopping distances. Friction is measured regularly with a test vehicle, because rubber deposits undo the benefit. It sits in Mondo's technology collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Federal Aviation Administration

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: airports, safety, aviation

Runways are grooved to stop aquaplaning: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Saw cut grooves across the surface let water escape sideways so tyres keep contact in heavy rain. The figure is taken from Federal Aviation Administration, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a technology fact?: Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.