Great excuse if you're caught speeding...

[Vermilion]

... and a great reason not to use cruise control on your car!

Man in Australia feared he would die when the cruise control on his car jammed, causing him to hurtle along the freeway at 100km/p/h.

 

[DearEmma]

100 kph is 62 mph. You'd have to go alot faster than that to hurtle on the highway. But not being able to stop might be a problem.

 

[OnlyByMoonlight]

I once got pulled over cause my wipers were on high and it was sunny (he thought I was tipsy). I sat there for ten minutes trying to convince the cop my truck was posessed (it is) and that the wipers come on whenever they want. He wouldn't have believed me if they hadn't popped on during the conversation and made him jump three feet in the air.

 

[Vermilion]

100 kph is 62 mph. You'd have to go alot faster than that to hurtle on the highway. But not being able to stop might be a problem.

I think that'd feel like hurtling to me if I couldn't slow it down and there was traffic in front of me.

 

[sweetness6280]

... and a great reason not to use cruise control on your car!

Man in Australia feared he would die when the cruise control on his car jammed, causing him to hurtle along the freeway at 100km/p/h.

That happened to my parents several years ago. They were coming to a "T" intersection with a very busy highway, and the cruise control would not release. While they were only going 55 or so, they did thread the needle between cars, and ended up in the middle of a pasture surrounded by cows. Dad's face hit the steering wheel (old truck, no airbags) and mom had a few bruises, but no serious injury.

Dad never used cruise control again.

 

[TE999]

Ford's had continuing problems with their cruise control over the years starting around 1989...especially in Explorer's for some odd reason. There's a lot of parts and mechanism sharing between different models of cars and trucks during manufacture and the cruise control's no exception. It has been speculated that those cruise control types being vacuum controlled servomechanisms, defective seals could cause the device to malfunction and not release the throttle when the brake pedal has been depressed.

Little is known about further research by the car manufacturers directed toward identifying this problem due to it's relative rarity vis a vis the number of vehicles manufactured.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Shoot, just throw the car into neutral and step on the brakes. What's the problem?

 

[TE999]

Shoot, just throw the car into neutral and step on the brakes. What's the problem?

People panic and don't think rationally.

 

[DeeZire]

The only cruise control I've ever had access to was a brick on the accelerator of a VW bus. Even then, it wouldn't go 65.

 

[JackLuis]

I had a Fiat that had a hand throttle. It didn't have any automatic shit at all. Not bad between Sana Fe and Amarillo, but I'd never use it in an urban setting.

 

[vrosej10]

... and a great reason not to use cruise control on your car!

Man in Australia feared he would die when the cruise control on his car jammed, causing him to hurtle along the freeway at 100km/p/h.

They payed the guy out good and proper on Aussie TV...the general opinion was that he was an idiot, but Ford have a history of dodginess, so I think the jury is still out on this one.