One of the first things he warns against: using cruise control in the rain.

"It just happened to my brother," says Hayes. "He had the cruise control on, hit a large puddle of standing water, and it kind of fools the computer."

That, Hayes says, can leave you in a fairly precarious situation.

"It gives the car more power when it begins hydroplaning," he says.

Trooper Hayes says something else we don't think much about is all the new construction that happened over the summer.

"There could be a little oil left over until the rains wash it away," Hayes says.

But once that happens, is that newer, darker pavement any slicker?

"Usually not," he says. "In fact, the friction numbers can go up with new pavement, rather than down."

Tom Baker is a materials engineer with the state DOT. He warns there's still some unfinished work, and a lot of those steel plates in the road.

He says the plates can be pretty slick, which brings us back to the basics, and perhaps the obvious point that some drivers still don't get around here.

"Pavements with water on 'em are a lot slicker than pavements without water on them," Baker says.