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.

Thanks, Chrissy. We don't use cruise in the rain, but part of that is because the *one* time we tried, it wouldn't work. Now we know why! lol (We have the Toyota Sienna mentioned in your post! :D )

Yeah everyone should know this!! TFS!! Just last time it rained hard here (flooded a little) there were 2 or 3 incidents in my little town where cars had hydroplaned. Not sure if they were related to the use of cruise control. But important info. to know regardless!

I've heard this...and have been skeptical of cruise in rain beforehand. I just felt too out of control. But now to convince the hubs. He's a cruise maniac. LOL
Thanks for the reminder. I'll have to harass hubs again.

My husband and I learned this lesson the hard way. We had been married for almost two weeks, he went to work on a friday on his way home it was rain just lightly but it had been raining for a while the last thing he rembers is turning on to the highway and turning on his cruise. The witness report says he hit a puddle hydroplaned spun aroud 180 and slid acrossed the center line and a car coming from the other direction hit him, in the other car was a Grandma and her two young grand daughters. My husband had a serve head injury, the lady broke both her wrist and one of the baby faces was cut very deeply by the glass. We never use are cruise ever.
here is a picture of my hubbies car
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e18/jsbinkyiii/Jan2312-1.jpg
Erin

Wow had NO idea. I am a "cruis control maniac". If I could set it when I was going 25mph I would!!!! TFS especially since it rains here more then it sun shines.

This is true. (Sorry, Chrissy, I always check these things out. [heart])

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp

Thanks for posting! I was not aware of this. I rarely use cruise control anyway, but it is good to know these kinds of things.

Wow...I didn't know that! I don't use cruise control at all :???: Really don't know why. THANKS FOR SHARING, I'LL TELL VALORIE