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So, let’s all take some responsibility for how we drive and call ‘time’ on the clickbait articles suggesting you can blame something else. When accelerating, turning, braking, or steering in the rain, drive smoothly to retain maximum control. Make gradual speed or steering changes, and start slowing your vehicle by taking your foot off the gas earlier than you normally would before gently squeezing the brake pedal. No. but you are legally and financially liable if you cause an accident by using cruise control in the rain.
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According to another study published by the Association for Psychological Science, a driver can take up to 5 seconds longer to maneuver, react to an obstacle ahead, or slow down when using conventional or adaptive cruise control. Cruise control can increase your reaction time and significantly affect your control of the vehicle. That said, no cruise control system on the market today will just keep accelerating after any sort of control loss happens, and hydroplaning does not make you go faster until you fly off the road and crash into a Chipotle.
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Slow Down
What does cruise control have to do with aquaplaning and travelling faster than the pre-set speed? Add to that poorly maintained tyres (low grip, under or over-inflated) and you’ve got a recipe for disaster and cruise control has nothing to do with it. Cruise control works by monitoring your car’s speed and then adjusting the throttle inputs to keep it at the same speed. It’s usually only accurate to within 3-5kph so it’s not a good idea to set it to 107kph because you may exceed the police’s tolerance level. To maintain the set speed, the engine has to fight against wind resistance, inclines, and the rolling resistance of the tires. Therefore when driving, the engine is always working because there’s always something pushing against the car.
Your Cruise Control Speed May Be Unsafe When It’s Raining
Cruise control is a great feature, especially on those long road trips, but make sure you keep an eye out for wet roads and rain. Wet roads are dangerous because the rainwater causes the oil and grease on the road to rise up to the top of the water. This creates a slippery, ice-like condition on the road, but it can get much worse if your tires can't tread through the water fast enough.
Conversely, hit the indicated deceleration button to slow down a little bit. You may have brand new tires, they can also slip on the road surface if you are driving on wet roads. It’s best to only use your cruise control in optimal conditions and not in the rain or on wet roads. Even if it is not raining it’s still not a good idea to use your cruise control on wet roads. This is especially true in the fall time when there could be wet leaves on the road.
This slow speed is unlikely to be a risk factor as an isolated element. However, many people have their cruise control speed set much higher than the minimum. The internet is really useful for many things, ranging from letting your wi-fi enabled refrigerator to blast Yoo-Hoo ads 24/7 to letting you play Canasta with a naked man halfway across the world. But one of the things it truly excels at is spreading misinformed hysteria, often about driving. Such a case is the persistent and dire “don’t use cruise control in the rain” warning that has been floating around for well over a decade. This is nice because you never have to worry about messing with adjusting your cruise control to match the speed of vehicles in front of you, your vehicle will do that for you.
Cruise control can also prevent speeding and increase fuel efficiency by limiting unnecessary acceleration and braking. When it comes to driving in low-traction conditions, there’s nothing like human senses and inputs. When a driver’s foot is on the pedal, they can detect tire spin, lift-off, and apply the brakes. That could mean the difference between a collision and driving away safely. Even ACC systems have a weather warning and that snow and ice can obscure vehicle sensors. 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.
Watch Out for Standing Water
An activated cruise control system applies continuous power, keeping the wheels spinning. By the time you disengage the cruise control it may be too late – you may have already lost control. 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 hit a spot of water in the road while your cruise control is on your car will continue to accelerate which can cause you to lose control of your car and slide off of the side of the road. While the technology in cruise control has been improved over the years it is still a somewhat unintelligent system.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Cruise Control in the Rain
To debunk this myth, we need to take a quick look at how cruise control works. These days, software is used to tell the cruise control system when the set speed has been reached and when the car is slowing down. This software also tells the system when the brake has been used so it doesn’t fight the driver, disengaging cruise control instead. If it’s your first time using your car’s cruise control system — or if you’re not 100% sure how to turn on cruise control in your car —the process starts before you crank the engine. Different makes and models may have different combinations of buttons or features. Cruise control gives many drivers a sense of security when driving on the road, from utilizing less gas to helping maintain a constant speed.
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When rain falls on top of that, those materials can create a film on the surface of the street, causing it to become extra slippery. The thin layer of grime above the water's surface reduces the car's traction while driving. A car at a very high speed can lose contact with the road when there’s standing water, especially if the tires have treads worn down to 3 mm (0.12 inches). Tire treads with a depth of 1.6 mm (0.06 inches) are highly vulnerable to hydroplaning. Plus, the wet road or terrain is unlikely to offer the firm grip your car or its tires have in normal conditions.
Lower the temperature inside your car quickly by cracking a window if your vent system doesn’t help. Staying safe while driving in the rain is simple if you make a conscious effort to employ these safety precautions. Keep a greater distance between your vehicle and the car in front of you. Stopping your vehicle will be more difficult when driving in the rain. Maintain a distance of several car lengths between your car and other vehicles.
Have you ever been driving along using your cruise control and had your wheels slip when you were driving down the road? Your cruise control system was not designed to be used in bad weather or on icy roads. This article explains why you should not use cruise control in the rain and why you should really only be using cruise control if the roads are dry. But, in almost every scenario, it’s the driver’s responsibility to drive to the conditions, be they a corner, a dirt road, rain or heavy traffic. Blaming cruise control for your lack of attention, is like saying, the devil made me do it.
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