How true is this??

[fabianyee]

PLEASE READ IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE I wonder how many people know about this..................? A 36-year-old female had an accident several weeks ago and totally written off her car. A resident of Wollongong, NSW, she was travelling between Wollongong & Sydney. It was raining, though not speeding 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 highway patrolman what had happened, he told her something that every driver should know - NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WTH 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 Highway Patrolman 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 patrolman that was exactly what had occurred. The Highway Patrol estimated her car was actually travelling through the air at 10 to 15 miles per hour faster than the speed set on the cruise control. 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, totally written off his car and sustained severe injuries. If you send this to 15 people and only one of them doesn't know about this, then it was all worth it. You might have saved a life

 

[nikazwaa]

What difference would it make if she wasn't on cruise control but doing the same speed?

 

[pimprider]

maybe what the message is trying to say is dont maintain same speed when driving in the rain? i experienced my car tends to swerve when driving in the heavy rain. at around 60kph. depends on the road as well la actually. drive through shallow pools of water on the road and you'll get my meaning.

 

[flash]

I would always turn off my cruise control (PV6) while driving in the rain or when the road is wet. Can react faster to the changing road conditions.

I once tried to drive in the rain with the cruise control.... there were a few times when I felt the front wheels (PV6) aquaplaning and my revs were going up and down, causing my fronts to loose and getting grip back, something like "reverse ABS".... :blink: Not good feeling....

 

[ALBundy]

To use cruise control in the rain on our Malaysian roads is a nightmare.

 

[nikazwaa]

And with stop and go traffic, i don't really see the point.

 

[The Necessary]

I think there are 2 types of cruise control, or at least 2 types I can think of (correct me if I'm wrong); one that maintains engine revs, and one that maintains road speed.

If it's the former system, I don't think the "flying" aquaplaning car scenario will occur- after all, wheel spin = spike in engine revs = less fueling to maintain lower rpms.

If it's the latter system, then yes, it's possible. Aquaplaning = loss of speed = more fuel to increase speed = more aquaplaning due to more wheel spin, and so on and so forth.

The system on my Scooby is the first one, so I think I'm safe in the rain. Seems like another "urban" myth to me, as if it is such a danger, I'm sure car manufacturers will be legislated to warn the drivers of their cars in Europe and America.

 

[kahar]

n speakin of revs whilst in rain, it cld hurt alot if the water goes into yer air filter durin yer cruise control ON.

rgds, B)
kahar abdullah

 

[khalidm3]

slightly off topic, nevertheless, still abt criuse control,

i was driving to JB on sunday, set the cc at 120kph,the road was quite clear so i didn't have to put my feet on the accelerator to overtake or brake..... somewhere close to yong peng i think, there was a roadblock and i was booked for driving 150kph...tried to argue with the cop stating that i set the thing at 120, how can he say its 150...and he said if i'm not satisfied, i can go to the muar police station and ask for the speed gun photo...

i'm thinking that its just a waste of time..since they can book a kancil for speeding over 900kph, why should the bother to check someone who's goin at 150...

 

[ah lian]

have you gotten the summonse yet?? :unsure:

 

[fabianyee]

Originally posted by khalidm3@Apr 4 2006, 05:13 PM
slightly off topic, nevertheless, still abt criuse control,

i was driving to JB on sunday, set the cc at 120kph,the road was quite clear so i didn't have to put my feet on the accelerator to overtake or brake..... somewhere close to yong peng i think, there was a roadblock and i was booked for driving 150kph...tried to argue with the cop stating that i set the thing at 120, how can he say its 150...and he said if i'm not satisfied, i can go to the muar police station and ask for the speed gun photo...

i'm thinking that its just a waste of time..since they can book a kancil for speeding over 900kph, why should the bother to check someone who's goin at 150...

sometimes, they are just 'trying luck'....

 

[khalidm3]

yes..i was pulled over at the road block and given the summons by the friendly cop

 

[3er]

I've done a tad more than 110 in heavy rain at length just to see if this urban legend was true.

Nothing happened.

 

[ezain]

my father kena once 9 years ago....drive perdana with auto cruise while its raining with 100km/h..suddenly the car skid at the pagoh hiway...(beside the gaung).his car turn around a few times and hit the barrier...he took off the AC after that...

 

[Lee36328]

Guys,

This is quite an old email hoax, or email chain.

The obvious clue is the last line which always asks you to forward the mail to x number of persons, perpetuating the hoax.

Please do not perpetuate the chain here.

Check it out.

http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ia_myths_cruise.htm

http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/cruise.html

Or just google "Cruise Control email hoax"; you'll get lots of hits.

Hitting a water puddle under cruise control will increase the speed? You must be kidding.

On the other hand, driving under cruise control over wet roads may be dangerous for the following reasons.

1. foot is usually off the throttle pedal, relaxing somewhere
2. less feedback to the driver compared w normal driving
3. driver may not realise or may take longer to realise that car is aquaplanning because of the reduced feedback
4. all the above contributes to slower reaction time.