neat driving tips

[Gerald Prezeau]

GOOD VISION IN A DOWNPOUR

How to achieve good vision while driving during a heavy downpour.

We are not sure why it is so effective; just
try this method when it rains heavily.
This method was told by a Police
friend who had experienced and confirmed it.

It is useful...even driving at night.
Most of the motorists would turn on HIGH or FASTEST SPEED
of the wipers during heavy downpour, yet the visibility in
front of the windshield is still bad......

In the event you face such a situation,
just try your SUN GLASSES (any model will do), and miracle!
All of a sudden, your visibility in front of your
windshield is perfectly clear, as if there is no rain.

Make sure you always
have a pair of SUN GLASSES
in your car, as you are not only helping yourself to drive
safely with good vision, but also might save your friend's life by
giving him this idea..

Try it yourself and share it with your friends!???
Amazing, you still see
the drops on the windshield, but not the sheet of rain
falling.?

You can see where the rain bounces off the road.? It
works to eliminate the "blindness" from passing
semi's spraying you too.?

Or the "kickup" if you are following a semi or
car in the rain.?
They ought to teach that little tip in driver's
training.. It really does work.

This warning is a good one!

I wonder how many people know about 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 hydro-plane 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 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
when
your car begins to hydro-plane and your tires lose contact with the
pavement,
your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off
like an airplane. She told the patrolman that was exactly what had
occurred.

The patrolman said this warning should be listed, on the driver's seat
sun-visor - NEVER USETHE 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 a similar accident, totaled
his car and sustained severe injuries.

NOTE: Some vehicles (like the Toyota Sienna
Limited XLE) will not allow you to set the cruise control
when the windshield wipers are on. 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.

[plax425]

Gerald, thanks for the tip about the sunglasses. I will definitly pass your advice to freinds.

[Adam]

Also, use Rain-X regularly. Not the wiper fluid type, but the kind that you have to apply. I was caught in a Texas downpour (and they are Texas-sized) and saw people pulling over because they could not see...I was able to not only see, but if I wanted, I could have turned off the wipers and still had great visibility.:smileup:

[Hazard]

Thanks for the good info!

[Sk8nsanta]

Your car will take off like an airplane?? C'mon you can't actually be serious. You need lift to generate any kind altitude. And sunglasses to help, but they gotta be polarized. Polarized lenses will help to eliminate glare from water, shiny surfaces, and the roadway. I keep my polarized pair in my car and when it rains they do help, provided it's not too dark outside. I don't think non-polarized lenses would do too much though.

[TorRed Hot]

Also, use Rain-X regularly. Not the wiper fluid type, but the kind that you have to apply. I was caught in a Texas downpour (and they are Texas-sized) and saw people pulling over because they could not see...I was able to not only see, but if I wanted, I could have turned off the wipers and still had great visibility.:smileup:


Agreed. Rain-X is great. I rarely use my wipers because of it. The water beads right up and makes visibility wonderful!

[challylover]

Your car will take off like an airplane?? C'mon you can't actually be serious. You need lift to generate any kind altitude. And sunglasses to help, but they gotta be polarized. Polarized lenses will help to eliminate glare from water, shiny surfaces, and the roadway. I keep my polarized pair in my car and when it rains they do help, provided it's not too dark outside. I don't think non-polarized lenses would do too much though.


At the risk of sounding like a dork, I won't go into the phyiscs of the polarization of light, but santa is right, non-polarized would not help.

[Bill Pemberton]

Semantics aside, the concept that hydroplaning feels like taking off in an airplane is quite accurate in sensation - hence the term. Have it happen at around 120 on a race track and it is quite a trip .............no purchase with the ground and you are literally are floating on a cushion of water. Steering input, brakes, etc. become a thing of the past and it feels like someone kicked you in the backside.

Control is impossible , so hang on for the ride. Always amazed folks are not aware that cruise control should not be used when it is raining, so good to point it out, as it is an obvious situation , one would think , but in practice many are unaware of the circumstances.

[Sk8nsanta]

At the risk of sounding like a dork, I won't go into the phyiscs of the polarization of light, but santa is right, non-polarized would not help.

Ha, you would sound like a dork...at least to me. I used to work for Oakley, so I know allll about polarization. :cool:

[Stubbs1911]

...granted he was going a lot fast than we usually do, but he's managed to do it twice, back to back years at Talladega. What is amazing is how his car actually seems to accelerate once it got airborne, although I know that's actually an illusion.

Your car will take off like an airplane?? C'mon you can't actually be serious. You need lift to generate any kind altitude. And sunglasses to help, but they gotta be polarized. Polarized lenses will help to eliminate glare from water, shiny surfaces, and the roadway. I keep my polarized pair in my car and when it rains they do help, provided it's not too dark outside. I don't think non-polarized lenses would do too much though.

[DaveDees]

Sounds like a couple of good tips to me. I plan on trying the out the sunglasses the next time it rains cats and dogs.

[Sk8nsanta]

...granted he was going a lot fast than we usually do, but he's managed to do it twice, back to back years at Talladega. What is amazing is how his car actually seems to accelerate once it got airborne, although I know that's actually an illusion.

Oh, I've seen plenty of cars (F1, Indy, NASCAR) get airborne. But like you mentioned they are traveling much much faster, and usually get clipped in some way or another to get than initial air flow under the car. That, combined with the 200mph speeds would be more than enough to generate lift for the air to get under, catch it, and yes, send it upwards. Someone with cruise control on going 45-55mph on the highway wont be leaving the ground on their own any time soon....unless they swerve off a bridge or something.

[Adam]

A few years ago, there were four kids driving on the interstate in an econo-box, a Nis-yota-bu of some sort, during a heavy downpour. They had slowed down to about 60 but that wasn't enough. The car hydroplaned and went right across the median (about 100 ft.) and into the oncoming traffic. All four were killed. The article didn't mention cruise control, but it is still scary.