Interesting

[gruntfuttock]

I have just received this email and I will repost it here. I will let you decide if it is true or not.



I checked this one before sending it on..... if you want to make sure or if anyone you send it to questions it send them here:
http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp


NEVER KNEW THIS BEFORE
I wonder how many people know about this?

A 36-year-old female had an accident several weeks ago and totalled her car. A resident of Wollongong, NSW, she was travelling between Wollongong & Sydney. 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 policeman 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 policeman told her that if the cruise control is on and your car begins to hydroplane -- when your tyres 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 policeman that was exactly what had occurred.

The policeman estimated her car was actually travelling through the air at 10 to 15 kms per hour faster than the speed set on the cruise control. The policeman 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 road is dry.

The only person the accident victim found, who knew this (besides the policeman), 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

[George130]

Massive war going on at work over this one. There is claims the E-mail has been doing the rounds for years and comes from the US. It's supposed to be spam and therefor not supported.
Me.. I stayed out of it.

Overall consensus seems to be most people arn't skilled enough to use Cruise in the rain so just don't use it.

[gruntfuttock]

I do not have it, but it could be worth thinking of.

You would have to have rocks in your head to use cruise control in snow or ice :roll:

[DiscoMick]

We have cruise control so I could understand how the theory could work, but I still wonder...

[one_iota]

Any pilot who flies through a thunderstorm and relies on the auto pilot shouldn't be flying.

Oh well at least the climate control can be relied upon to maintain cabin temperature. https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

[LandyAndy]

I had a very interesting simalar experience in BlackBetty.
I was towing a trailer up to Perth for Tiny,AND GOING TO GET NEW TYRES FITTED.(they were legal but only just)
It was raining,cruise set at 110ks,was a slight uphill pull on a straight heading into a bend.The cruise had just gone into its "get back to the set speed ASAP mode and I hit the water running down the indents the road trains leave in the road.
The not too flash tread on the tyres invoked aquaplaning,the traction control was on,she wouldnt steer out of the water and was still powering on.I hit the resume button to cut the cruise,I was able to steer out of the water as per normal.It was quite un-nerving at the time,and I havent used the cruise in the rain since.
Andrew

[one_iota]

I hate cruise control The company car has it.

All the conditions including other vehicles are so variable that its use is limited and relying on it removes a significant factor for safe driving...complete control.

So my Luddite view is that cruise control dulls the senses. If you want to be driven then employ a chauffeur.

Maybe it is a case of "not speeding kills" after all it is usually set to avoid breaking the speed limit.

[gruntfuttock]

I belive that cruise control does have it's place. Long freeway drives outside of city traffic. In city and around a city they are dangerous.

It is just my 2bob's worth

[LandyAndy]

Hi Mahn
I agree with you Mahn,I wouldnt mint betting many country accidents are caused by cruise control and lack of driver control/concentration.
I dont like the Disco2 setup,it hunts too much,all or nothing.
I do use it though,set it at 105ks(allowing for my tyre error) and it keeps the licence clean.I switch it off if there is other traffic or hills.
Andrew

[rangieman]

come on guys do correct me if im wrong

if your wheels loose tration that means your wheels are going faster than the set speed and this is what cruise control is for it reduces the speed back to the set speed

plus in my job for a certain car maker i drive a lot of their cars on dirt in the rain on dry bitumen and wet

in twelve years of testing these cars in controled conditions (proving ground) this has never happened with 3 shifts running 7 days a week




i hope this answers the question :roll:

[LandyAndy]

Hey Rangieman
My experience was real,IT WAS QUITE UN-NERVING.
A less experienced driver could have easily come unstuck.
Perhaps you need to get an AWD vehicle from your employer,with traction control and cruise and worn out tyres,a load(an empty trailer in this case) and find a hwy with water running in the roadtrain tyre runs.
Whilst the Traction control and Cruise control are doing their stuff if these conditions you have ZERO CONTROL.BEEN THERE DONE THAT HAD THE SCARE.
EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL ONCE THE CRUISE WAS CANCELLED.
Andrew

[rangieman]

ok we have AWD cars with traction control and we tow trailers im only speaking from experience

as i said it has never happened in the 12 years ive worked in this field


i dont doubt you but we have covered millions of ks in the years and no history of this problem exists

[rangieman]

plus our test roads are the same as all over australia


i know as a ex truckie i have seen enough of the austrailian roads

that as a every day city driver would never see or experience

[JDNSW]

It is difficult see how cruise control could initiate aquaplaning, nor how it could exceed the set speed due to lack of traction. Only way it could do this is if the speed sensing is from a different set of wheels to those driving, and the speed sensing wheels are slipping and the driving wheels are not - I suppose with all wheel drive and traction control this is just possible - but the traction control would have to be confused, and applying braking to the wheels that are rotating more slowly. (of course, if you are going downhill and lose traction, you will accelerate whether the cruise control is on or not.) Unlike ice, which is slippery with any tyres at any speed, true aquaplaning conditions cannot exist at legal speeds except with unusually wide tyres and/or lack of tread or very low tyre pressure. However, there are quite a few cars on the road with very little tread on their tyres. .
I find that I use cruise control a lot, mainly to stop the cramp in my right foot from having it in exactly the same position for hours on end, necessary to keep just within the speed limit when it is hours between towns.

[LandyAndy]

Hi JDNSW
You are on the right track,the conditions in my case confused the electronic brains running the show,NO DOUBT.
The "brainbox" was flat out trying to correct the hydro planing,an instant loss in wheel speed as the hyrdro planing tyre slows due to no road contact.At the same time the Cruise brainbox was trying to maintain vehicle speed which was dropping due to the Traction control working.
For those who havent driven a manual TD5 with cruise,the computer has more control over the throttle than your right boot.In 5th gear going uphill at 80 to 90ks if you floor it the response is quite dull.If you have say 110ks set in cruise and you are passing a slower vehicle and stay in 5th,with the accelerator pedal throttle response is poor,hit resume and the cruise can pull a **** load more out of that motor than the right foot can.Im sure you other Man TD5 cruise owners will have experienced this.
Andrew

[Timmo]

Originally posted by one_iota
Any pilot who flies through a thunderstorm and relies on the auto pilot shouldn't be flying.


Would've thought any pilot who flys through a thunderstorm at all maybe shouldn't be flying.....unless its one of those orions specifically for storm research.... 8O

[DiscoMick]

Just trying to think this thru...

So if the front tyres hydroplane before the back wheels reach the water, the front wheels will slow because they've lost contact?Or will they speed up because they can't slow below the speed set by the cruise control?
But the back wheels will still be doing the speed set by the cruise control?
So the cruise control gets confused?
Does it try to speed up the front wheels?
I assume the sensors for the cruise control are on the front wheels? Or on all 4 wheels?

I wonder if anyone has scientifically tested this?

[Timmo]

And what would be the effect of traction control in that?

[DiscoMick]

I have no idea. I'm having enough trouble trying to think this thru without thinking about traction control as well.
Fortunately, my D1 doesn't have it.

[gruntfuttock]

Hey what would happen if you locked the CDL while aquaplaining?

[LandyAndy]

I havent said my Disco accelerated beyond the set speed,it was under full power,thats how it is with the TD5 cruise control,all or nothing it seems.I would say both left front and rear tyres were aquaplaning,the water would have been a constant 15 to 20mm deep.
The ABS/Traction Control/Cruise Control system has a speed sensor on each wheel.
Andrew

[gruntfuttock]

Originally posted by LandyAndy
I havent said my Disco accelerated beyond the set speed,it was under full power,thats how it is with the TD5 cruise control,all or nothing it seems.I would say both left front and rear tyres were aquaplaning,the water would have been a constant 15 to 20mm deep.
The ABS/Traction Control/Cruise Control system has a speed sensor on each wheel.
Andrew

Thanks Andy,
I was trying to cunfuse DiscoMick :wink:

[rangieman]

yeah man is it my pipe yet ! :roll:

[gruntfuttock]

Originally posted by rangieman
yeah man is it my pipe yet ! :roll:

:?: :?: :?:

Have I lost the thread?

[DiscoMick]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>I was trying to cunfuse DiscoMick
[/b][/quote]

You don't need to bother, I can do that all by myself. :wink: I'm not confused, I'm just figuring life out.

BTW is there any difference between the factory and aftermarket cruise controls? Mine is aftermarket. Would they react differently when the vehicle as aquaplaning?

[gruntfuttock]

Stuffed if I know :?