Did you know this - Cruise Control caution
She checked this out on Snopes. Their conclusion is that it is true. It is never a good idea to use cruise control during wet or icy conditions. 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 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. |
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| That was the first thing my husband warned me of when I used to drive 2 hrs to see him while we were dating. Good for everyone to know. |
| Yes, when I bought my first car with cruise control I was told not to use it in the rain or snow. |
well duh for me I did not know this! Thank you for the information  |
| But if you touch the brake or engage the clutch, it disables, how could it get that far that you'd fly through the air and not be able to stop before going absolutely out of control? Was it on an older car? I can understand accelerating when the car goes into a hydroplane but doesn't it seem like a natural reaction to touch the brake or push in the clutch? On a side note, I hate cruise control and never use it. Years ago, I had a car that didn't disengage when you depressed the clutch but made it rev really hard. It's scarred me for life. |
| Having the cruise control trying to accelerate the car while hydroplaning wouldn't make you "fly", but it sure as heck would be likely to increase the odds that the car to go completely out of control, as would hitting the brakes to disengage the cruise control afterwards... |
| I do know about the no cruise control on water or ice.
Before I knew, I did have a mild incident - but no accident. Front wheel drive vehicle, hydroplaning in the rain. My RPM's wound way up, then my front wheels grabbed on drier pavement going REALLY fast. It was a big WWEEEEE! 
Scared me good. |
| got sheep you crack me up!!!
Ren M |
| My Mom had an 82 Nissan Maxima back in 1982. We were driving on a flat stretch of highway and Mom had the cruise control on, it was a sunny day. All of a sudden the accelerator kicks in and the car starts increasing in speed rapidly. My Mom starts screaming. She is pressing the brakes and nothing is happening. She is hitting the off button and nothing.
She pulls onto the shoulder of the road, throws the car into neutral and turns off the engine. It was the only way to stop the car. It super scary. The accelerator got stuck even though it was just maintaining a speed. I have cruise control in my car but I don't feel safe using it. I actually put it on for a few minutes the other night, but took it off because it made me nervous. I don't like not having my foot on the gas. Feels odd. Also I will never engage cruise control without making sure there is a full shoulder available in case of emergency. |
| Wow I did not know that about cruise control, now you tell me I drove 12 hours in the car to Adelaide. It poured the whole way so Cruise controll to keep me at 100 K's so I did not exceed the speed limit on the country roads. I thought it would be safer as I could concentrate on the road ahead and all the rain hitting the wind screen rather then worrying about looking all the time at the speed I was doing.
DOH never again, I will stick to foot control when travelling in the rain.  |
Ron wrote: Having the cruise control trying to accelerate the car while hydroplaning wouldn't make you "fly", but it sure as heck would be likely to increase the odds that the car to go completely out of control, as would hitting the brakes to disengage the cruise control afterwards...
Slamming on the brakes, yes, a tap to disengage probably wouldn't do much of anything. |
| If you can just tap the brake to disengage the crusie control and not reflexively step on it while your car is speeding away I would guess you'd be a better person than most.
I'd think that just touching the brake just enough to drag a wheel even a tiny bit while hydroplaning can probably cause big problems. |
| Wow that sounds scary! We don't have cruise control over here, at least I don't think so, not sure why |
I have never liked cruise control, I don't feel like I am "in control" of the car so I never use it. Oh yea, I'm not in control  that's why it's called cruise control |
| Thanks for the info! I never use cruise control in the rain because I like to be in control but I didn't actually realize how dangerous it would be to do so. |
When I bought the HappieCamper, the salesman said he never used the cruise control on buses like mine. I asked if there was a problem, he just said no, they were too comfortable. He might forget he was driving and just get up and walk into the back. 
But he was serious. |
| I knew not to, but I didn't know why. I hydroplaned once, and it is so scary. I ran right off the road and into a ditch. My doors wouldn't open, and it was raining hard. Thankfully, there was a cop right behind me and he said I just disappeared right off the road. He turned around, found me, and I climbed out of the back window. He had a tow truck pull my truck out a few minutes later. I'm glad we had the back glass window and the cop was there to see too. |
| Learn something new everyday. I use my cruise whenever we go on long trips. One thing I did learn is never take your foot far from the gas and brake. You never know what is going to run in front of you. I keep my foot on the gas pedal even if I have the cruise on. |
| Ron - that is funny, but scary in a way too! I can see it happening.
Gail - you were VERY lucky! |
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