NEVER KNEW THIS BEFORE
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 maint aining 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 andyour 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.
Ron
