Is Cruise Control Dangerous During Rains?


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got this facebook fwd. is this true???

Excellent Driving Tip: Especially for the young drivers! A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago. 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 Police Officer 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 Police Officer told her that if the cruise control is on,your car will begin to hydro-plane when the tires lose contact with the road, and your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off like an airplane. She told the Officer that was exactly what had occurred. The Officer said this warning should be listed, on the driver's seat sun-visor along with the airbag warning. NEVER USE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE ROAD IS WET OR ICY 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 Officer), was a man who'd 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. Even if you send this to 15 people and only one of them doesn't know about it, it's still worth it. You may have saved a life. Gene Cobb Driving Safety Instructor — with Casey Johnson and Lamicah Johnson.

By: Gene Cobb
 
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I think there is some fruit in this story though personally i haven't driven a car equipped with Cruise controls and that too on wet conditions. I might be wrong here but this is my perception about this whole issue - I feel that a car equipped with Electronic Stability control could avert the risk of hydroplaning to a great extent. Similarly AWD vehicles may not face this issue as there is an equal distribution of power & torque to all the wheels. Hydroplaning can become an issue for 2WD vehicles in my opinion.
 
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I don't think that's true. Anyway you are just going to accelerate at a constant speed - use cruise control or not. The moment you hit the brake you are only going to cut off cruise control. If the CC is set to a low speed, there cannot be any impact in my opinion, unless of course, the driver is active and alert
 
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Nope. I doesnt happen. I drove in rain with my Cruise on and once the vehiclestarted skidding, the VSA kicked in and the vehicle was back in control.

As Varun mentioned, once you step on the brake, your cruise is reset.
 

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