Cruise control - Good or bad?

[ProfJohnL]

For myself I have chosen cruise control to enable me to have a further range when travelling with the caravan. There maybe negatives for some people but when this gives you more options it can only have a positive effect to increase choices you can make when travelling.

I don't understand your comment , Cruise Control whilst it can maintain speed with greater precision than most drivers, that is not necessarily the most efficient use of fuel. so it doesn't radically offer any change ine range.

As Otherclive points out by maintaining speed up hill and down dale, the system may use more fuel than a skilled driver feathering the speed in recognition of the undulations in the road. But there is another side to this, and again a skilled driver will be better, but normal humans are are poor at maintaining constant speed, and we are also more tempted to use excessive throttle to accelerate which is likely to use more fuel than CC system would.

So its swings and round-a-bouts as to which is better and neither has a massive advantage in terms of fuel efficiency .

I personally do like to use CC becasue it allows me to spend more time watching the road and other drivers rather than my speedometer. Mine will operated down to 15mph, so I can us it even for teh 20mph limits now cropping up in urban area's and Like Dusty, my present car allow the set speed to be adjusted in 1mph steps or in 5mph steps, so its easy to adjust the set speed when the limits change.

 

[Gafferbill]

........my tow car didn't have cruise control when new and I was used to having it when driving other vehicles for a living.
So I fitted a Conrad Anderson after market kit and incorporated a kill switch which is mounted on a central console near the gear leavers.
This kill switch can easily be reached by any front or back seat passengers.......I must remember to tell them it is there

 

[Beachball]

I don't understand your comment , Cruise Control whilst it can maintain speed with greater precision than most drivers, that is not necessarily the most efficient use of fuel. so it doesn't radically offer any change ine range.

As Otherclive points out by maintaining speed up hill and down dale, the system may use more fuel than a skilled driver feathering the speed in recognition of the undulations in the road. But there is another side to this, and again a skilled driver will be better, but normal humans are are poor at maintaining constant speed, and we are also more tempted to use excessive throttle to accelerate which is likely to use more fuel than CC system would.

So its swings and round-a-bouts as to which is better and neither has a massive advantage in terms of fuel efficiency .

I personally do like to use CC becasue it allows me to spend more time watching the road and other drivers rather than my speedometer. Mine will operated down to 15mph, so I can us it even for teh 20mph limits now cropping up in urban area's and Like Dusty, my present car allow the set speed to be adjusted in 1mph steps or in 5mph steps, so its easy to adjust the set speed when the limits change.

In a nutshell using cruise control meets my needs when driving

 

[Dustydog]

Thinking outside the box maybe the car makers should consider the possibility of a panic, dead man’s handle.

 

[otherclive]

Thinking outside the box maybe the car makers should consider the possibility of a panic, dead man’s handle.

The modern electronic surveillance on some cars are monitoring for driver fatigue so they could potentially be developed to detect unusual activity associated with sudden onset illness. But of course as self driving autonomous systems come in the driver will be less relevant to high speed safety actions as they sit there watching Netflix and unable to rapidly tackle an emergency.

 

[ProfJohnL]

The modern electronic surveillance on some cars are monitoring for driver fatigue so they could potentially be developed to detect unusual activity associated with sudden onset illness. But of course as self driving autonomous systems come in the driver will be less relevant to high speed safety actions as they sit there watching Netflix and unable to rapidly tackle an emergency.

This might be possible in some cars now, but we have had CC in some cars from the late 1950's,

In the grand scheme of things, we haven't seen a spiralling proportion number of incidents occurring, so its not a major problem, but it is certainly something I hope the car manufacturers or legislators are looking as as we move towards more autonomous vehicles, but there's not a lot we can do about pre existing vehicles.

 

[Darren.H]

So as a lorriest and motorist of long standing I use cruise as often as possible, even travelling in towns and cities, my right thumb works more than my right foot 🙃

Many advantages in fuel efficiency, and travelling within the speed limit.

I do however hate with a passion radar assist, that being the thing brakes when it sees a problem or slowly slows down, utter nuisance

However my car doesn't have that but does brake but only when above the set speed, which when towing a caravan is fabulous, todays journey will take us over Bodmin and down many steep hills, the car won't go above 52mph as the brakes will automatically be applied, this makes towing a case of steering only.

As for the question what happens if the driver konks it?
Well I've seen this first hand, many years back a bloke had a fit in a car coming the other way at a junction I was stationary at, the vehicle accelerated then embedded itself into the railings, so to me the question has no real world relevance.

 

[ProfJohnL]

....

As for the question what happens if the driver konks it?
Well I've seen this first hand, many years back a bloke had a fit in a car coming the other way at a junction I was stationary at, the vehicle accelerated then embedded itself into the railings, so to me the question has no real world relevance.

Basically there's nothing we can do about it, its been one of the risks that all drivers and passengers take when they get into any vehicle, either your driver might keel over or a driver in another car coming towards you.

The thread may have raised awareness but there is virtually nothing you can do to circumvent the rare occasions when it does happen. This of course pre supposes drivers are honest with themselves and refrain from driving when they know they are at a greater risk of succumbing to a disabling medical condition.

 

[Buckman]

Or just falling asleep at the wheel. The passenger may shout to wake them up and startle them into swerving or doing something they shouldn't.

 

[otherclive]

Or just falling asleep at the wheel. The passenger may shout to wake them up and startle them into swerving or doing something they shouldn't.

A far more likely situation although my copilot seems to sleep as soon as D is engaged.

 

[Damian]

This of course pre supposes drivers are honest with themselves and refrain from driving when teh know they are at a greater risk of succumbing to a disabling medical condition.

And thereby is the problem.

Drivers never think they are going to have an accident, it will always be someone else.

There was a case recently where a driver wrote off two cars in two weeks for the same reason, he blacked out and went into a ditch, luckily not hitting anyone else.

Here on the Island we have a lot of old people who should never be allowed behind the wheel of any moving object , but are, all because they will not admit they are not fit to be on the road, and their driving , and state of their car with dents and scrapes and other peoples paint on them bears testament to that fact.

 

[Dustydog]

Remember this? The driver went to prison. He’d fallen asleep at the wheel. There’s food for thought.
The Selby rail crash was a high-speed train accident that occurred at Great Heck near Selby, North Yorkshire, England, on the morning of 28 February 2001.[1] An InterCity 225passenger train operated by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) travelling from Newcastle to London collided with a Land Rover Defender which had crashed down a motorway embankment onto the railway line. It was consequently derailed into the path of an oncoming freight train at an estimated closing speed of 142 mph (229 km/h). Ten people died including the drivers of both trains, and 82 were seriously injured. It remains the worst rail disaster of the 21st century in the United Kingdom.

 

[otherclive]

Remember this? The driver went to prison. He’d fallen asleep at the wheel. There’s food for thought.
The Selby rail crash was a high-speed train accident that occurred at Great Heck near Selby, North Yorkshire, England, on the morning of 28 February 2001.[1] An InterCity 225passenger train operated by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) travelling from Newcastle to London collided with a Land Rover Defender which had crashed down a motorway embankment onto the railway line. It was consequently derailed into the path of an oncoming freight train at an estimated closing speed of 142 mph (229 km/h). Ten people died including the drivers of both trains, and 82 were seriously injured. It remains the worst rail disaster of the 21st century in the United Kingdom.

Also the Croydon tram crash more recently, plus a number crashes where the driver fell asleep were recorded as the cause. I well recall the Trathens coach crash too when living down in Plymouth.