safety for using cruise control. email I received recently might be of interest to others:
Begin copy
'DRIVERS BEWARE
I NEVER KNEW THIS. 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 Sydney, NSW, she was traveling between Newcastle & Sydney.
It was raining, though not 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.
NEVERDRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH 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 tires lose contact with the road, 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 traveling through
the air at 20 to 30 miles kmh 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 ROAD 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 road 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. If you send this to or tell at least a couple of your freinds and only one of them doesn't know about this, then it was all worth
it.
You might have saved a life.'
end of copy
