Cruise Control Warning

  • Thread starter Frans
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Frans

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--- 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.
 
Some vehicles (like the Toyota

Sienna Limited XLE) will not allow you

to set the cruise control when the

windshield wipers are on.

Our family vehicle is a Sienna XLE Limited which also has an infra-red cruise control sensor in the front which will turn off the cruise control when you get too close to another vehicle. We NEVER use cruise control in Hawaii. Distances are either too short or too many vehicles.
 
they dont have cruise control?

They have a differential wheel drive that kicks in and let's the other wheel catch. And if they both spin, it slows the rpm's till there's traction. All happens in a matter of a split second....
 
I'm with Burnham. Wet or icy conditions are when you need to be highly focused on your driving and paying extra attention, not kicking back and cruising along blissfully unaware of your surroundings with your feet tucked up under your seat. Anybody stupid enough to use the cruise control in dangerously slick conditions deserves to wreck.

The person in Frans' story is too stupid to drive. :what:
 
I rarely use the cruise. I had to run an errand just now so I took the truck, flipped the wipers on and tapped the cruise, she engaged, so much for GMC Sierra safety. No traction control either, its all up to the driver, like Formula1, I like it better that way.
 
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Anybody stupid enough to use the cruise control in dangerously slick conditions deserves to wreck.

The person in Frans' story is too stupid to drive. :what:

You know Skwerl, thats pretty harsh. Think about it for a second. we have an entire generation who is NOT taught how to drive. How to steer, work the automatic, and push the brake, but not how to handle a vehicle.

We issue licenses, but give no learning whatsoever in how to 'own' the vehicle on the road. Its a fact.
The DMV here in my area has even discontinued the requirement of parallel parking in the driving test! My friend's daughter did not have to do it! Just pull into a spot, and pull out making sure the wheels were within 12" of the curb.




-Hey Burny! good see yer back! Missed ya.
 
If I was in control of driver licensing laws, I would make riding on a big rig for two hours a requirement. Can't believe how many times I have seen cars cut in front of a fully loaded tractor trailer.
 
CDL A class. TN endorsements.

If I get a ticket for driving like an idiot, I'll really get the stick.

When you have a CDL, your considered a professional driver. You won't be getting any slack from the law.
 
Thats what pisses me off, You have to make a deal with the devil, to obtain a Cdl license nowadays But the kids don't even have to parallel park a dang 15 foot long car anymore.

I know there is a huge difference in the two vehicles, but what does it matter if you kill yourself cause you're to busy texting.
 
I agree with Brian all the way on this one. Here in Colorado we get everything but hurricanes and if you aren't aware of how to drive right in these adverse conditions your car will be in a ditch.
 
Frans. thanks for posting this. It happened to my brother not 2 weeks ago. The insurance company totalled his car but he was fine. I sent him the link!
 
I learned this the hard way too. I was driving my truck on the interstate in snowy/icey conditions with the cruise control on at around 75. Big Mistake. I ended up doing a full 360 in the middle of the interstate than ran over a mile marker on the side of the road. Straight hydroplaning. I was very lucky that there was no traffic, if there was it could have been really ugly. No more cruise control in those conditions for me.
 
Yeah, I never knew it either... thanx for the "heads up" ! It seems like the eggheads would've worked out this kink ages ago ?
I got a recall notice from Ford re.: the cruise control unit on my truck ('96 F150), but never followed through on it >>> fishing through the stack of disregarded stuff now !!!
 
I never thought about it. I'll tell my kid as he loves to use the cruise control. About the only time I have ever used it extensively was driving to Las Vegas, and once to Boise.
 
Cruise control aside, the real culprit seems to be inappropriate driving speeds for the weather conditions. 75mph in snowy/icy conditions is just plain stupid with or without cruise control in use.
 
ha! I thought that had to be a typo. 75mph = about 120kph, I dont get to do much over 100kph here most days cuz of traffic on the highway, much less get up to 120kph in the snow (cleared or uncleared).
 
It also has a lot to do with when and how a downshift occurs, the gear ratios in the transmission, and the vacuum demands on the load being driven (hills, trailers, etc.) that precipitate a downshift.

I know that Chevy Trackers (Suzuki's) are deadly when downshifting on slick surfaces - wife totalled two of them. My Ford truck doesn't engage that immediate or deadly, and some people have a notion that everything that needs engineering has already been engineered correctly (like Skweryl said: stupid).

Just teach the kids about physics more than divine right and there's hope - here one doesn't have to take driver's ed anymore to become a legal driver (no child left behind act).
 
I find that my GMC truck engages quick at the stoplight, even when I tap the gas to go, if its slippery out (rainy, happens a lot up here) I find quite often that the back wheels spin a bit. I have taken to putting it in 4high to accelerate then pop it out when I get to like 15 or 20kph.
 
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