Driving in the rain
 

Is this true? Got this send round at work yesterday for info:

Just-In-Time Feedback
Created by OEF
Bradwell Site
January 2013

This information was received from Peter Roach, Strategic Programmes Director at Daresbury and has been verified with the Institute of Advanced Motorist www.iam.org.uk

SAFE-DRIVING TIPS WHEN IT IS RAINING!

A good tip:

A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago. 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 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 tyres lose contact with the road, and your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off like an aeroplane. 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 - NEVER USETHE 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 what we don't tell them is 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, totalled 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.

[quote=sloss;55335]The Officer said this warning should be listed, on the driver's seat sun-visor -QUOTE]

My seats don't have sun-visors, and if they did i'm not sure you'd use them if it was raining, mostly used for protecting against the sun +++

I'm not 100% on this one. Hydroplane is a type of boat hull.

If a car were jacked up and sat on axle stands (all 4 wheels off the ground) would this simulate aquaplaning?
" your car will begin to hydro-plane when the tyres lose contact with the road, and your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off like an aeroplane"

I just can't see it ever being able to accelerate past what it's set too.

I was thinking that one or two wheels hydroplaning would make the ESP kick in and sort things out fairly quickly.

All 4 wheels hydroplaning then you'd slow to a stop due to lack of friction to keep you moving forward.

Prolly just poor driving by said young lady!

It's difficult to use Cruise in Scotlandshire anyway. No Motorways to speak of and the dual carriageways are a joke. I test mine every so often but not for long, maybe I need Adaptive on my next car.

Sounds totally implausible, typical internet garbage.

I mostly use cruise control on local roads with low speed limits and lots of cameras, especially the sort where there's no obvious logic to the speed limit, little traffic and a camera that appears to be purely revenue-raising.

I agree - as soon as the ESP is triggered the cruise is automatically switched off - If you drive a Ford Galaxy then it is also switched off when you blow the horn :ROFL:

What sort of eunuch would drive a Galaxy when VAG make a much better looking van? ;)

I would think there is some truth behind that. For starters not all cars have ESP. So if the speed drops below the one set on cruise control, for example going up the hill or car being slowed down by hitting deep puddle and cruise control starts to accelerate and there is very little grip like on ice it could start spinning wheels and loose control. If you have wide tyres with low tread and sufficient speed that could cause aquaplaning and loose grip as well. I would say it is unlikely but given right circumstances possible, more likely on big engined rear wheel drive cars with little weight over driving axle. Maybe we should write to Mythbusters and ask them to test it.

Although Peter Roach is a real person, and does work for Magnox/ES, this does at first glance sound like it would have been most likely to have been sent round yesterday, given the date ....;)

Was probably a female Police Officer who came out with that tosh :)

I think this is the most valid comment so far! +++