Cruise Contro

[PennBF]

We recently saw a note regarding the use of cruise control in the car. It alerted us to the fact that when driving in the rain you should not use cruise control. (I use it quite a bit). The logic being that if you start to slide and the car slows down the cruise control will automaticaly try to get back to the recorded speed and speed up. This made great sense so I thought I would pass it on.

[djplong]

If you start to slide, you should be tapping the brake and that would turn off the cruise control.

If you start to slide and take no corrective action, well, you get what you deserve and hopefully you don't hurt anyone else.

[BobKat1]

If your car has anti-lock brakes (ABS) you should keep steady pressure on the pedal for the ABS to be effective. Pumping the brakes negates the effects of ABS.

[Don H]

While the "brake" issues are valid, if you have adaptive cruise control there may be other issues. Adaptive cruise control will automatically slow your car down to match the speed of a slower moving vehicle in front of you. Some of them work by transmitting a microwave (radar if you will) signal to measure the closure rate of the vehicle in front of you. Some use a laser system to do the same thing. The laser systems are adversely effected by rain and snow in that they tend to be blocked or confused by percipitation. Using a laser based adaptive cruise control in medium to heavy rain or in snow could cause the system to slow down prematurely making turning it off the better option.