Using cruise control in the rain...?
Discussion
Got this sent to me at work...I smell BS. What sayeth PH?
This information was received from Peter Roach, Strategic Programmes Director at Daresbury and has been verified with the Institute of Advanced Motorist www.iam.org.uk
SAFE-DRIVING TIPS WHEN IT IS RAINING!
A good tip:
A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago. It was raining, though not excessively when her car suddenly began to hydro-plane and literally flew through the air. She was not seriously injured but very stunned at the sudden occurrence! When she explained to the Police Officer what had happened, he
told her something that every driver should know -
NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON.
She thought she was being cautious by setting the cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in the rain...
But the Police Officer told her that if the cruise control is on, your car will begin to hydro-plane when the tyres lose contact with the road, and your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off like an aeroplane. She told the Officer that was exactly what had occurred. The Officer said this warning
should be listed, on the driver's seat sun-visor - NEVER USETHE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE ROAD IS WET OR ICY, along with the airbag warning. We tell our teenagers to set the cruise control and drive a safe speed - but what we don't tell them is to use the cruise control only when the road is dry.
The only person the accident victim found who knew this, (besides the Officer), was a man who'd had a similar accident, totalled his car and sustained severe injuries.
NOTE: Some vehicles (like the Toyota Sienna Limited XLE) will not allow you to set the cruise control when the windshield wipers are on.
This information was received from Peter Roach, Strategic Programmes Director at Daresbury and has been verified with the Institute of Advanced Motorist www.iam.org.uk
SAFE-DRIVING TIPS WHEN IT IS RAINING!
A good tip:
A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago. It was raining, though not excessively when her car suddenly began to hydro-plane and literally flew through the air. She was not seriously injured but very stunned at the sudden occurrence! When she explained to the Police Officer what had happened, he
told her something that every driver should know -
NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON.
She thought she was being cautious by setting the cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in the rain...
But the Police Officer told her that if the cruise control is on, your car will begin to hydro-plane when the tyres lose contact with the road, and your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off like an aeroplane. She told the Officer that was exactly what had occurred. The Officer said this warning
should be listed, on the driver's seat sun-visor - NEVER USETHE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE ROAD IS WET OR ICY, along with the airbag warning. We tell our teenagers to set the cruise control and drive a safe speed - but what we don't tell them is to use the cruise control only when the road is dry.
The only person the accident victim found who knew this, (besides the Officer), was a man who'd had a similar accident, totalled his car and sustained severe injuries.
NOTE: Some vehicles (like the Toyota Sienna Limited XLE) will not allow you to set the cruise control when the windshield wipers are on.
It does make total sense. Plus, if you spot a large area of standing area a few hundreds meters in front of you and want to lose a bit more speed, it might be quicker and more intuitive to just progressively lift off whereas having the cruise on means that you might not react as quickly and/or fall into a false sense of security and just drive through it with the obvious consequences described in the post.
ks, using cruise control does not make you any more likely to hydroplane.Motorways in the rest of Europe carry signs telling you not to use cruise control in the rain. Naturally, in the UK we don't have any road safety policies other than lowering speeds so the millions of accidents people do have, because they're undertrained clueless idiots, hurt less. Anyway, back to the point: yes, cruise control on a wet road is a bad idea, but as said above, most cars have traction and stability control systems which de-activate the cruise control when they're triggered these days, although one shouldn't rely on them and yes, I never use cruise on very wet days.
However, flying through the air straight away when you aquaplane? WTF?!
However, flying through the air straight away when you aquaplane? WTF?!
eldar said:
Opinion seems to be it is possible, but unlikely if any degree of common sense is used.
Hmmm.So you set the c/c to 70mph, the car hits water, the car slows down, the c/c system opens the throttle to compensate, the tyres are unable to grip the road because of the water, and the car takes off? No.
With no T/C intervention I'm sure it could cause a spin, though.
Lefty said:
your car will begin to hydro-plane when the tyres lose contact with the road, and your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off like an aeroplane.
Once you've harnessed the cruise controls ability to make the car take off like a plane. You'll never need to worry about costly flight fees and waiting around in airport terminals ever again.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff