Never Drive in the Rain with Your Cruise Control On!
Here's some important information that I got from, of all people...my lovely wife, Karen. She forwarded one of those e-mails that travels around the net with the question..."Jim, does this sound right to you?" Well, I did a little fact checking and while the story may be embellished, the information is accurate. Don't touch that cruise control in the wet.
The e-mail that Karen passed along tells the story of a woman who was driving in the rain with her cruise control on. The car suddenly starts to hydroplane and crashes. She is not seriously hurt but in talking with the state trooper she learns that one should never drive in the rain with your cruise control on. The patrolman tells the woman that this warning should be listed on the driver's seat sun visor: `Never use the cruise control when the pavement is wet or icy', along with the airbag warning.
Using cruise control on wet roads can be especially dangerous because the car will accelerate without warning, particularly if the cruise control is attempting to maintain a constant speed on an upgrade. The cruise control may cause the car to shift gears while at a highway cruising speed, thus loosening the tires' grip on the wet road.
I did some research on the web and found (almost) the same story within this article from Murray Hubbard of Slide Rule, a column on CarsGuide, an Australian-based website at http://carsguide.news.com.au/story/0,20384,18728601-5001701,00.html "The problem with cruise control is that it may try to accelerate while the car has uneven traction. This can cause the vehicle to veer to the low traction side. "
"The same problem can occur if the driver uses either gas or brake under uneven traction. When braking, the car will veer to the high traction side."
Interestingly, both the story that my wife sent and the one at CarsGuide had a 36 year old woman crashing but not being seriously injured. Virtually identical except that the one my wife sent had the woman crashing somewhere between Kilgore and Gladewater Texas and the story from Australia had the same 36 year old woman traveling between Wollongong and Sydney. You'd think she would have learned from her experience in Australia before taking to the roads in Texas!! : ) Well, even if the story is an urban legend, the lesson is the same.
One more example from the Holden Car Company of Australia: "The man was driving to work in his Holden VR Commodore with cruise control set to exactly 110km/h. As the car started to go uphill, the cruise control kicked down a gear. Unfortunately, at this exact time, he went over a patch of water, which combined with the acceleration of the cruise control caused his car to aquaplane. The car fishtailed, he lost control and went head-on into some trees. "
Our thanks to CarsGuide for doing the research with help of Audi, Holden and Subaru and of course, Karen. So, pass the word to your friends and family...Never drive in the rain (or snow) with your cruise control on!
Thanks and please drive safely,
Jim
The e-mail that Karen passed along tells the story of a woman who was driving in the rain with her cruise control on. The car suddenly starts to hydroplane and crashes. She is not seriously hurt but in talking with the state trooper she learns that one should never drive in the rain with your cruise control on. The patrolman tells the woman that this warning should be listed on the driver's seat sun visor: `Never use the cruise control when the pavement is wet or icy', along with the airbag warning.
Using cruise control on wet roads can be especially dangerous because the car will accelerate without warning, particularly if the cruise control is attempting to maintain a constant speed on an upgrade. The cruise control may cause the car to shift gears while at a highway cruising speed, thus loosening the tires' grip on the wet road.
I did some research on the web and found (almost) the same story within this article from Murray Hubbard of Slide Rule, a column on CarsGuide, an Australian-based website at http://carsguide.news.com.au/story/0,20384,18728601-5001701,00.html "The problem with cruise control is that it may try to accelerate while the car has uneven traction. This can cause the vehicle to veer to the low traction side. "
"The same problem can occur if the driver uses either gas or brake under uneven traction. When braking, the car will veer to the high traction side."
Interestingly, both the story that my wife sent and the one at CarsGuide had a 36 year old woman crashing but not being seriously injured. Virtually identical except that the one my wife sent had the woman crashing somewhere between Kilgore and Gladewater Texas and the story from Australia had the same 36 year old woman traveling between Wollongong and Sydney. You'd think she would have learned from her experience in Australia before taking to the roads in Texas!! : ) Well, even if the story is an urban legend, the lesson is the same.
One more example from the Holden Car Company of Australia: "The man was driving to work in his Holden VR Commodore with cruise control set to exactly 110km/h. As the car started to go uphill, the cruise control kicked down a gear. Unfortunately, at this exact time, he went over a patch of water, which combined with the acceleration of the cruise control caused his car to aquaplane. The car fishtailed, he lost control and went head-on into some trees. "
Our thanks to CarsGuide for doing the research with help of Audi, Holden and Subaru and of course, Karen. So, pass the word to your friends and family...Never drive in the rain (or snow) with your cruise control on!
Thanks and please drive safely,
Jim
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