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I use my cruise control on an open road. It saves gas. I would like to caution you about using cruise control on wet roads. Don't use it on wet roads! Your tires may hydroplane, and the cruise will keep increasing the speed of the car. When the tires bite and get traction again, the car will skid and swerve. This could be very dangerous.
Remember, when it's raining, don't worry about saving money, you may be saving a life by not using your cruise control then. Hope you travel safe!
By dwedenoja from New Creek, WV
Did you know you should never use your cruise control when driving in the rain or snow? This can be very dangerous because if your tires lose contact with the pavement, your car can hydroplane and may speed up and you will literally fly through the air. It happened to a family member, and he was badly hurt. Hope this will save someone from this dilemma.
Source: from family by word of mouth
By Katie Genereux from Sault Ste Marie Ontario Canada
Editor's Note: Here is a link to Snopes that verifies that there is danger to driving on wet roads with cruise control:
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
Do not use your cruise control when driving in rain, should you hydroplane, your car will accelerate 10 to 15 mph causing possibly a serious or deadly accident.
By Angela Van Hoy from Olin, NC
I googled this to double check. This link says it's true.
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/cruisecontrol.htm (02/08/2006)
I also checked on Google and found it to be a hoax. If one moves down through the hoax sites, he will find the hoax busters site.
"Like most urban legends, this tale offers a "true story" of an extreme example of a rare, but real, risk - illustrated by a story that happened to some unidentified (or poorly identified) person other than the author. It lacks crucial validating information and what "facts" it does contain are already being altered.
Automotive experts, manufacturers and highway patrolmen advise against using a vehicle's cruise control on wet or icy pavement. Doing so can delay your reaction to situations that often offer only fractions of a second to maintain or regain control. To do so, you must reduce power and slow the wheels so that the tires can once again grip the pavement.
But not all cars will "accelerate to a high rate of speed" when they hydroplane. Rather, your vehicle's wheels will maintain the speed set by the cruise control. If set at 50 mph, the tires will continue to rotate at that rate - they will not suddenly accelerate out of control just because they aren't in contact with the road. The lone exception is vehicles whose speed is metered on the non-drive axles.
Another reason not to forward this chain is the risk of "False Attribution Syndrome" - someone may receive and forward it in the future, adding their name and title, and by extension, undue credibility to the tale. Would you want to start receiving calls and e-mails wanting more information about this danger? If not, break this chain."
(02/08/2006)
By Dean
You don't need to check into this any FURTHER. It happened to me, years ago on the way home from work at night on I81. I am not a blog or a hoax, I am a real live person and can attest to this. I will say however, that this particular cruise control had been added to the car and when you turned it on the car immediately accelerated to the speed that it was set, which had always been fine, until that night when the road was really, really wet, I ended up in the median facing North on I81 while traveling South. So never mind "hoax", I am sure it has happened to A LOT of people. B. Wilson (02/09/2006)
By Bonnie
Hi,
We're not encouraging any email chains. We don't do that kind of thing. This just seems like good common sense to me. We've had plenty of hydroplaning around here lately with all the rain we've had. Seems like good advice and certainly can't hurt to turn off the cruise control when the roads are wet or icy.
By Susan from ThriftyFun
