Got this in an e-mail. To me it just sounds like a chain letter, but wanted to know if anyone had heard any truth to 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 our 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. 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 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 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 saved a life

I did a google search and there are some hits on urban legend websites that say this is a true occurance http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/cruisecontrol.htm. I can see how the vehicle might skid or swerve when coming into contact with pavement after hydroplaning, but I don't belive the bit about flying through the air. I thought you had to have a vehicle as heavy as a car going much faster to take off, let alone generating much lift with no wings....

Yeah, cars with wings should be able to fly, but not with cruise control engaged during the rain... If the vehicle attempts to accelerate while hydroplaning, it will do so gradually (not instantly) and the driver should notice a change in the vehicle's behavior. The only way the car will take flight is if it hydroplanes off of the road and off a sweet jump cliff or something. Wouldn't that be more like falling than flying

Sounds like a job for the MythBusters....

Jeremy

i remember once with my camaro i was on a hill with ice and i gunned it and it just sat there and spun...but i watched my speedo go up, now if you were going 60 and started to hydro then there would only be a short moment of "spinning" tires but it would cap out at 60 (thats what CC is set at). you fig the decel of hitting the water...losing momentum...around lets say 10 miles an hour (making the tires spinning at 60 but you are traveling 50mph), all you would end up with at the end is a short jerk once the wheels hook up.

so there............BUSTED......