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PSA from the FSIL
got this e-mail from my brother's fiancee. seems like a good thing to pass along.
For those of you that have cars... Here's why you shouldn't use cruise
control when it's raining or icy. I would have thought this was an urban
legend... but then I read what my dad (the physicist) had to say about it.
so drive safely!!
---------------------- Forwarded Message: ---------------------
>When a car is "hydroplaning", some of its tires are no longer in
>contact with the pavement. The control computer only knows the vehicle's
>speed from the rotation of the tire. And it will do whatever it can
>to keep the speed constant, and may increase the power to keep the
>tire rotating at the same speed.
>
>Hydroplaning is not tied to how heavy it rains, but tied to how much
>water is on the pavement. If the drainage of the road is poor, it can
>hydroplane in light rain. So it is a good idea to avoid cruise
>control whenever the road is wet.
>
-----Original Message-----
Subject: This could save your life... drive safely
A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago and totalled
her car. A resident of Kilgore, Texas, she was traveling between Gladewater
Kilgore. It was raining, though not excessive, when her car suddenly beganto
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 loose 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,totalled 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.
Detective Constable [name deleted]
For those of you that have cars... Here's why you shouldn't use cruise
control when it's raining or icy. I would have thought this was an urban
legend... but then I read what my dad (the physicist) had to say about it.
so drive safely!!
---------------------- Forwarded Message: ---------------------
>When a car is "hydroplaning", some of its tires are no longer in
>contact with the pavement. The control computer only knows the vehicle's
>speed from the rotation of the tire. And it will do whatever it can
>to keep the speed constant, and may increase the power to keep the
>tire rotating at the same speed.
>
>Hydroplaning is not tied to how heavy it rains, but tied to how much
>water is on the pavement. If the drainage of the road is poor, it can
>hydroplane in light rain. So it is a good idea to avoid cruise
>control whenever the road is wet.
>
-----Original Message-----
Subject: This could save your life... drive safely
A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago and totalled
her car. A resident of Kilgore, Texas, she was traveling between Gladewater
Kilgore. It was raining, though not excessive, when her car suddenly beganto
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 loose 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,totalled 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.
Detective Constable [name deleted]
no subject
I thought you might want to know that according to snopes.com while the actual story may have apocryphal touches, you are right that it is good advice and more than just a silly urban legend:
http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp
no subject
no subject
It is good advice. Running over water or ice when your speed is being controlled by computer may cause the engine to rev thus spinning the tires. Please note, however, that:
1) This is only a problem in non All-wheel drive cars, or cars without tarction control, and furthermore on cars where the speed is not calcaulted on the drive wheel.
2) Your car will not begin to FLY because you hit an icy patch on the road.
The biggest danger here is that your car will hit a puddle and suddenly pull to one side. This will cause your car to spin. Throttle control is usually necessary to control a spin, so you don't want to have to fight cruise control. It's good advice, but let's not terrify people.
no subject
no subject
I would actually be more worried about the wheels spinning and then catching again. But, yes.