Hi all,
not a fan of cruise control but this arrived in my email today.
This has been verified with the RAC and it is something that should be in the vehicle manual.
I wonder how many people know about this?
A 36-year-old female had an accident several weeks ago and totalled her car. A resident of
Wollongong, NSW, she was travelling between
Wollongong &
Sydney. It was raining, though not excessively, when her car suddenly began to hydroplane and literally flew through the air.
She was not seriously injured but very stunned at the sudden occurrence!
When she explained to the policeman what had happened, he told her something that every driver should know - NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON.
She had thought she was being cautious by setting the cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in the rain. But the policeman told her that if the cruise control is on and your car begins to hydroplane -- when your tyres lose contact with the pavement, your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed and you take off like an airplane. She told the policeman that was exactly what had occurred.
The policeman estimated her car was actually travelling through the air at 10 to 15 kms per hour faster than the speed set on the cruise control
The policeman said 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. We tell our teenagers to set the cruise control and drive a safe speed - but we don't tell them to use the cruise control only when the road is dry.
The only person the accident victim found, who knew this (besides the policeman), was a man who had had a similar accident, totalled his car and sustained severe injuries. If you send this to your friends and only one of them doesn't know about this, then it was all worth it. You might have saved a life.