Refresher

With all the rain we're having in Charlotte right now I thought it might behoove us to revisit the advice I posted about using cruise control in the rain.

This originally went around the web as an email and a lot of people mistakenly thought it was an urban legend. While it's not as dire as the original email would have us believe it is true that using cruise control when it's raining is a bad idea.

If you want to find out exactly why google is your friend but the bottom line is cruise control is BAD WHEN IT'S WET, SLUSHY, SNOWING OR ICY.

Now you know.

Cruisin' In The Rain

Well, it's finally raining in Charlotte. It's not going to be for forty days and forty nights which we need but it will be lingering around till at least the weekend.

So, here's a top tip that used to pop up in emails -- you know the ones, forward this to all your friends -- that actually turns out to be true.

DON'T USE CRUISE CONTROL IF IT'S RAINING (OR SNOWING, SLEET, ICY ETC).

What happens is that you can hit a patch of water (hydroplaning) and the loss of traction causes the system to misread the speed the wheels are turning. All sorts of bad things can then happen and before you know it you've crashed.

The proper technique for being caught in a skid caused by hydroplaning is to IMMEDIATELY reduce power by taking your foot off the gas (and no braking right). However, to cut the cruise control off you have to tap the brakes or fiddle round and find the on off button on the dash or control column. By the time you've done either of those two it's too late.

So, bottom line is, DO NOT EVER USE CRUISE CONTROL ON ANYTHING BUT A DRY ROAD.