Car crash injuries are a huge part of our practice, and as a result of that, I can tell you from 24 years of doing this sort of work that what our experts tell us is true. That is that during a time like now, when it's been very rainy in Colorado, about the most dangerous thing you could do behind the wheel is use your cruise control during a rainstorm. Studies go back more than ten years detailing the dangerous effect of cruise control on slick roads. I'm by no means an engineer but, essentially, the two problems with cruise control is that you've got to engage the brakes in order to turn off the cruise control and, in a skid slide situation, which is often created in rainstorms, either by the rising of the oil or dirt on the road creating a sheen, or by just simply something called hydroplaning, which is when the tire simply in the tread of the tire doesn't separate the water from the road and causes a hydroplaning situation.
In both circumstances, what our experts tell us in our car accident injury cases, and what I want to share with you is just the basic safety advice, is that the reaction on cruise control, the way you disengage cruise control if you start to lose control is you've got to engage the brakes. Of course, engaging the brakes is the very worst thing you can do if you're in the middle of a slide or a skid. Our experts are telling us, and I'm telling you, be cautious of using cruise control during these rainy months of our season here in Colorado. Cruise control is the most dangerous thing you could do. It's just a safety consideration and we of course, want you all to be safe out there.
For more information, contact us at 303-782-9999.
