Cruise control in the rain

[BoB]

The following two web sites confirm the information below:


http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp
http://www.icbc.com/Road_Safety/roadsafety_tips_season_wet.asp


Subject: Fw: DIDJA KNOW THIS about cruise control?

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 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. Cool!!!


BoB

 

[Blair Baucom]

I had this happen on black ice in my 1996 Ford Ranger, the speedometer
jumped a few times, truck spun as the rear limited slip axle broke both
tires loose, and I slid down the shoulder from 65 mph for 300~400 feet. It
was quite a ride.

Blair

 

[TrailRun]

Yep, I had it happed to me, the slipping that is. Traveling in the
hills of Vermont on Route 91 with cruise control on and the rain
started to come down. Within a minute or so I was slipping all over
the place. It's never to late to learn a something new!

Drive safe

Wayne

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

The following two web sites confirm the information below:


http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp
http://www.icbc.com/Road_Safety/roadsafety_tips_season_wet.asp


Subject: Fw: DIDJA KNOW THIS about cruise control?

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 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. Cool!!!


BoB

How are you gonna ACCELERATE when hydroplaning?

I suspect most owner's manuals warn against use of CC under icy/wet
conditions. Anyway, the CC cannot do anything you couldn't do with your
right foot. So don't engage it in conditions where gentle throttle use
is prudent.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp



Carl

 

[houndman]

The following two web sites confirm the information below:

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/...om/Road_Safety/roadsafety_tips_season_wet.asp

Subject: Fw: DIDJA KNOW THIS about cruise control?

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 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. Cool!!!

BoB

The 2nd link says that the first hour of rain is the most dangerous.
I think the first minutes or seconds, when even a light rain or
drizzle starts, I have slipped like on ice when hitting the brakes.
It's like the water must bead up, and the tires slide on them. When it
is 95 out and just starting to sprinkle, you wouldn't think, applying
the brakes to slow down to wait to merge with traffic on a highway,
that the car in front would slip sideways a bit, and then you do.
Maybe AWD will make a difference. Will have to see.

VF

 

[Graham]

The 2nd link says that the first hour of rain is the most dangerous.
I think the first minutes or seconds, when even a light rain or
drizzle starts, I have slipped like on ice when hitting the brakes.
It's like the water must bead up, and the tires slide on them. When it
is 95 out and just starting to sprinkle, you wouldn't think, applying
the brakes to slow down to wait to merge with traffic on a highway,
that the car in front would slip sideways a bit, and then you do.
Maybe AWD will make a difference. Will have to see.

VF

'All Wheel Drive' definitely does make a difference. My Subaru Liberty AWD
was excellent, driving along a very narrow, muddy and slippery road, between
farmers properties, made me realise that these cars are a breed of their
own. With my previous car, a Ford, I would not even consider for a second to
access that road.
Having said all that, you guys in America (some states, not all) have far
more experience on icy and slippery roads than I do. I hope though, that all
around the world, when it rains, everyone slows down by at least 10%.

Graham

 

[Bonehenge (B A R R Y)]

How are you gonna ACCELERATE when hydroplaning?

Magic!

Apparently, the car no longer needs forward propulsion when
hydroplaning, and wind and surface drag are instantly eliminated.

Hey, think of the MPG possibilities!

I suspect most owner's manuals warn against use of CC under icy/wet
conditions.

All of mine have. You'd think common sense would have most folks want
to retain full control of the vehicle in non-optimal conditions. But
then again, I choose to drive a stick shift, so what do I know? <G>

 

[Bob Burns]

The following two web sites confirm the information below:


http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp
http://www.icbc.com/Road_Safety/roadsafety_tips_season_wet.asp


Subject: Fw: DIDJA KNOW THIS about cruise control?

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 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. Cool!!!


BoB

I've seen this before, but still don't understand it. Cruise Control
keeps the drive wheels turning at constant speed, and with an AWD Sub
that means all the wheels. To my way of thinking that should prevent
skidding.

And hydroplaning is when the tires ride on a film of water instead of
pavement. You don't "fly through the air" or "Take off like and airplane".

 

[Blair Baucom]

The 2nd link says that the first hour of rain is the most dangerous.
I think the first minutes or seconds, when even a light rain or
drizzle starts, I have slipped like on ice when hitting the brakes.
It's like the water must bead up, and the tires slide on them. When it
is 95 out and just starting to sprinkle, you wouldn't think, applying
the brakes to slow down to wait to merge with traffic on a highway,
that the car in front would slip sideways a bit, and then you do.
Maybe AWD will make a difference. Will have to see.

VF

AWD does not make much difference in braking as most cars today have four
wheel braking.

As far as spinning tires, AWD does distribute the accelerating forces to
2,3, or 4 tires depending on the system, instead of 1, or 2 tires, therefore
reducing the possibility of loosing traction which leads to a spin out.

Blair

 

[coaster]

I've seen this before, but still don't understand it. Cruise Control

keeps the drive wheels turning at constant speed, and with an AWD Sub that
means all the wheels. To my way of thinking that should prevent skidding.

And hydroplaning is when the tires ride on a film of water instead of
pavement. You don't "fly through the air" or "Take off like and
airplane".

in TX everything is bigger even BS

 

[Guest]

I've seen this before, but still don't understand it. Cruise Control
keeps the drive wheels turning at constant speed, and with an AWD Sub
that means all the wheels. To my way of thinking that should prevent
skidding.

And hydroplaning is when the tires ride on a film of water instead of
pavement. You don't "fly through the air" or "Take off like and airplane".

The effect is real, but quite small. As stated, the engine will not
rev very high, because it'll only turn the wheels fast enough to
maintain the driveshaft speed.

What may be more of a problem is if the wheels are slipping, the
damping effect of the mass of the car accelerating/decelerating will
no longer be seen by the cruise control unit, making it prone to
larger degrees of undershoot/overshoot. Get on a slick road, and pump
the gas, not a good idea.

If you put the drive wheels in the air, and set the cruise control to
60mph, it would probably bang the gas on and off- the control loop no
longer can control the spoeed smoothly because one of the parameters
(damping/momentum) has been changed so dramatically.



Dave

 

[JD]

The effect is real, but quite small. As stated, the engine will not
rev very high, because it'll only turn the wheels fast enough to
maintain the driveshaft speed.

What may be more of a problem is if the wheels are slipping, the
damping effect of the mass of the car accelerating/decelerating will
no longer be seen by the cruise control unit, making it prone to
larger degrees of undershoot/overshoot. Get on a slick road, and pump
the gas, not a good idea.

If you put the drive wheels in the air, and set the cruise control to
60mph, it would probably bang the gas on and off- the control loop no
longer can control the spoeed smoothly because one of the parameters
(damping/momentum) has been changed so dramatically.



Dave

That is sort of correct. The problem is that when the car begins to slip,
getting off of the power is the best way to regain grip. With cruise
engaged, reaction time is a lot longer and it takes time to disengage the
cruise. If the road is really slippery, like glare ice, hitting the brakes,
even with ABS, is a very bad idea, and the cruise will try to maintain a
constant drivetrain speed irrespective of what the wheels are actually
doing. Hence, you lose control.

 

[Bob Burns]

That is sort of correct. The problem is that when the car begins to slip,
getting off of the power is the best way to regain grip. With cruise
engaged, reaction time is a lot longer and it takes time to disengage the
cruise. If the road is really slippery, like glare ice, hitting the brakes,
even with ABS, is a very bad idea, and the cruise will try to maintain a
constant drivetrain speed irrespective of what the wheels are actually
doing. Hence, you lose control.

That makes sense. Thanks for a well thought out explanation.

 

[JD]

That makes sense. Thanks for a well thought out explanation.

No problem. I have had it happen to me. I was lucky; I didn't hit
anything. But its hard on the ole' undies to be facing oncoming traffic on
a slippery road...