NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON


Subject: Important....not a joke.








I thought this was worth sending out to people I know. 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 excessive, 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 -NEVER DRIVE 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 pavement - 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. We all know you have
little or no control over a car when it begins to hydroplane. You are at the
mercy of the Good Lord. The highway patrol estimated her car was actually
traveling through the air at 10 to 15 miles per hour faster than the speed
set on the cruise control.





The patrolman said this warning should be listed, on the drivers 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. If you send
this to 15 people and only one of them doesn't know about this, then it was
all worth it. You might have saved a life.



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