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Not exactly pure FWDLK info, but if helps one
person out there it's worth it...
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 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 lose 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.
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, totaled 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 a life.
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