- A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago
and totaled her car.
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- A resident of Kilgore, Texas, she was traveling between
Gladewater and Kilgore. It was raining, though not excessively, when her
car suddenly began to hydroplane and literally flew through the air.
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- 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
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- - your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed
and you take off like an airplace.. She told the patrolman that was exactly
what had occurred.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- If you send this to 15 people and only one of them doesn't
know about this,
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- then it was all worth it. You might have saved a life.
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