Posted on 07/30/2010 4:37:06 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets
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 "kick-up spray" 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 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 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.
I don’t understand how a car will accelerate in cruise control when tires lose contact with the ground. The wheels would still be spinning and the speedometer will still be registering, so why would the car accelerate?
You make a good point, it’s just that when I hydroplane, I take my foot off the acelerator gently. Cruise control, not sensing inertial effects, will try to maintain constant wheel speed, perhaps with nasty consequences. Maybe that one is just as apochryphal. Like I said, I dunno.
Agreed. That stuff works.
I use sunglasses all the time when it rains. Furthermore, I use sunglasses with lenses that are “high contrast” vision. I am an Oakley fan and their “Fire” and “Fire Polarized” lenses are fantastic in the rain and also on cloudy days.
Been using polorized sunglasses in the rain for years. Works like a charm.
I use that stuff all the time, it works great.
Okay ..
Why not just say, 'dubious'?
[just teasing ya :-)]
And it makes cleaning bug splatter off the windshield a breeze as well. Nothing sticks to it.
This is one of those emails that went around.
I tried it (expensive, polarized Ray-Ban’s). I found it makes no difference.
I suppose if the rain is creating a hazy glare it would.
The sunglasses didn’t help me with night time glare, either.
Nothing spooks me more than the kind of storm with sideways rain, etc. when the wiper blades (no matter the speed) won't help.
Will this work in a white-out too, or do I just pull over and wait? We get some serious white out conditions here too in NE Ohio.
That stuff does work. I used all the time when I had my Benz.
For some reason we stopped buying it?
Thanks for jogging my memory, will have to get some now.
I recommend the version that goes in the washer reservoir. It's easier and works just as well.
In sense 2:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cachet
Main Entry: ca·chet
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from cacher
Date: circa 1639
1 a : a seal used especially as a mark of official approval b : an indication of approval carrying great prestige
2 a : a characteristic feature or quality conferring prestige b : prestige
3 : a medicinal preparation for swallowing consisting of a case usually of rice-flour paste enclosing a medicine
4 a : a design or inscription on an envelope to commemorate a postal or philatelic event b : an advertisement forming part of a postage meter impression c : a motto or slogan included in a postal cancellation
That would be my guess. Sounds somewhat dangerous and a placebo effect at best.
Actually, polarized sunglasses ought to help reduce glare and reflected light somewhat in a downpour. Obviously, wipers in good condition and the use of Rain-X (or similar) on the windshield would be helpful as well.
There are two major issues with driving in a downpour - your own windshield, and the hazing effect of the rain itself. When it’s really pouring (like it was here in Jacksonville yesterday afternoon), the cleanest windshield in the world won’t be enough.
Arrrrrgh! Now you're throwing French words around.
I'm going to need a bigger dictionary ;-)
I’ve used cruise control in the rain for years. I slow down which is the most important factor. I drive an AWD vehicle which may be another factor in that the car can tell when any one of my wheels is turning faster than the others. The cruise control will detect hydroplaning and cut the accelerator faster than I can.
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