CULTURE/SOCIETY: Cruise Control In The Rain

My mother sent me an email about this. And The Computer/Music Nerd will be happy to know that I checked it's authenticity! And below is what I found at Living Internet. - OlderMusicGeek

Internet Myths -- Cruise Control In The Rain

I had a wreck a couple of weeks ago and totaled our Lincoln Town Car. I hydroplaned on Hwy 135 between Gladewater & Kilgore, Texas. I was not hurt, just emotionally rattled! ... I learned a lesson I'd like to pass on to you.

- The only true email chain letter

There is only one true email hoax, just to show it's the exception that proves the rule.

There have been uncounted billions of hoax emails circulated around the Internet since it's creation, but, just to keep things interesting, there is at least one email with all the usual earmarks of a hoax that is actually true and potentially a useful safety tip.

The "cruise control in the rain" email began circulating in November 2002, and claims it is unsafe to drive a car using automated cruise control in the rain. While it is unknown if the story in the email is true, it is true that it is unsafe to use cruise control during a rain, or afterwards while the roads are still slick or puddles of water remain. The reasoning is that if if the wheels hydroplane on the water where there is no traction they can unpredictably change speed, putting the car's stability at risk both then and again as the wheel regains contact with the dry road with lots of traction designed in.

Resources. The following sites provide information about this true myth:

BreakTheChain.org - Cruising out of control

TruthorFiction.com - Don't Use Cruise Control in the Rain!

Urban Legends: Automobiles (Wild When Wet)