Driving in the rain - Not a joke

apollochil

Some good advice, and you may know this already, but it is good to repeat!

Driving  in the rain

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.