Never drive in the rain or ice with cruise control on!

Thought I'd pass this on....

I Wonder How Many People Know About This:

A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago and totaled her car.

A resident of Kilgore , Texas she was traveling between Gladewater & Kilgore. 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 highway patrolman 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 highway patrolman told her that if the cruise control is on when your car begins to hydro-plane and your tires lose contact with the pavement, your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off like an airplane.

She told the patrolman that was exactly what had occurred.

The patrolman 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 pavement is dry.

The only person the accident victim found, who knew this (besides the patrolman), was a man who had had a similar accident, totaled 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.

Beercan

Thats common knowlegde a couple states north, Still some folks try it anyway.

I drive many miles a wekk in a car on ice and I know not to use cruise then. Many people do not know any better. Good advice, you may save someone's life. Thanks

42chevy said:

I drive many miles a wekk in a car on ice and I know not to use cruise then. Many people do not know any better. Good advice, you may save someone's life. Thanks

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i didnt know that.
thanks for the safety tip!

That's news to me. Not something I ever thought about. Makes since though now that I think about it. It DEFINITELY should be right with the airbag warning.

News to me. Sounds like one for Myth Busters. [P
Doesn't matter what, your car will not "literally (fly) through the air." Not without hitting something big, first.

Modern cars, the cruise control reads driveshaft rpm. They won't speed up due to ice or hydro planing.

Once the driver realizes there is a problem, instead of instinctively lifting off the gas like you would without cruise, or turning off the cruise switch manually, they hit the brakes to disengage the cruise control and slow down quickly. BAD idea on ice. Doesn't take much to get all four wheels locked, they are just along for the ride now. Of course, they won't admit operator error.

"I had no idea that would happen" - After 22 years in the bodyshop business, I've heard that more than once. Maybe some day I will post some of the other things I've heard and been told by customers about airbags and anti-lock brakes. You would really think that kind of advice would come in driver's training.

It's nice she didn't get hurt seriously - or injure other folks around her.

Lesson learned

Great Tip.

Great solution;Daily-Drive a "cruise-control-less" hotrod.

Great tip, RBC. Thanks for sharing this cautionary tale.

Regards,
Shea

I, too, thought it was common knowledge, at least here in Canada. In 30 years of driving I have used cruise a grand total of 5 minutes in my life, and that was 25 years ago. I just don't like it. I'm a firm believer that the more things you have to control while driving the more in control you'll be. I think the right foot on the pedal makes a person more aware of what's under them. So, that being said, cruise is a definite no-no when the roads aren't clear and dry. So, now that I've offended fans of cruise control, wanna hear me rant on those rain-sensor features on some newer car's windshields ??

Are there some posts missing?[S..CR

Unkl Ian said:

News to me. Sounds like one for Myth Busters. [P
Doesn't matter what, your car will not "literally (fly) through the air." Not without hitting something big, first.

Modern cars, the cruise control reads driveshaft rpm. They won't speed up due to ice or hydro planing.

Once the driver realizes there is a problem, instead of instinctively lifting off the gas like you would without cruise, or turning off the cruise switch manually, they hit the brakes to disengage the cruise control and slow down quickly. BAD idea on ice. Doesn't take much to get all four wheels locked, they are just along for the ride now. Of course, they won't admit operator error.

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I use cruise in my company truck every day on a dry highway, NEVER in town or rural highways. Going over a patch of ice will simply shoot the rear of the car around with no recovery possible. Think of it as the car going 55 hitting a ice or wet spot would cause the tires to loose traction, spin and possibly downshift.

I never use cruise control in bad weather but the MOST DANGEROUS time to use it in my opinion is when DRIVING DROWSY I think most drivers tend to let off the gas and slow down if they are dosing off but imagine how fast things start to happen if you maintain 70 MPH and dose off even for a couple seconds. If I'm driving and start feeling drowsy the first thing I do is turn off the cruise!.....next thing I do is pull over!

It's absolutely true.... it can happen..no myth...

I believe that if you look at the owners manual on any vehicle..including semi tractors they will advise against using cruise in wet or icy conditions.... I know, what's an owners manual????? LOL

I aint never owned anything with cruise control but I will remember this info.[P[

They told us never use cruise or jake-brake in ice or snow, when driving big rigs either. I have seen too many accidents from not paying attention or driving too fast for the conditions, that my head spins.

Cruise control. Don't own anything new enough for that fancy stuff. But good to keep in mind.

Surely if the cruise control system monitors speed from your drive wheels, it will know when your wheels are spinning and losing traction, and will not spin the wheel up trying to get up to the selected speed? [S. If your wheel suddenly spins on ice, the cruise control will think you are going faster than intended, and will immediately reduce power. You would think....



I only ever drove a cruise control car a couple times, but I found on the open highway it left me more able to observe and concentrate on what was going on around me, while not having to concentrate so much on maintaining steady speed and keeping with the flow of traffic.

Which is the opposite of what I expected, which was that I'd doze off with boredom and become a danger.

You can raise or lower your speed a fraction at a time by tapping on a lever on the wheel, or knock it off simply by touching the brake or throttle. Very useful tool for long distance driving, but I never knew you shouldn't use it in the wet.

I'm thinking cruise doesn't let off fast enough in a spin. That and hitting a hill can make it suddenly pull the throttle - not something you do in slick conditions.

I've also noticed that not all cruise control seems to be as accurate or work the same. Drive a Ford next to a Chevy at the same speed on cruise and you'll be passing each other constantly in hills.

Also, as was noted earlier, disengaging cruise with the brake on a slick surface can get ya too.

Cruise Control

Wasn't aware of this, but I rarely use cruise control anyway. I have hydroplaned before and it's an eery feeling for sure, I could feel the car lift and knew I had no control as to where it was going. I got through it by just letting my foot off the gas though.