Sorry but Carlin was right on both accounts ESP the cruise control thing. I honestly don't find it too difficult to maintain a constant speed without it....

 

Funny, for me it's the other way around. The older I get the more liberal I become.

I'm a proponent for cruise control. It keeps me honest because I would always speed otherwise. Plus it irritates me when I'm driving down the road and I pass the same car a half dozen times because they can't maintain a constant speed.

 

I have "distronic cruise control" in my LX570 SUV. It's wonderful, it adjusts to the speed of the car in front of you if they are going slower than where I have the radar detector set. If the car in front is going slower it slows down maintaining the distance I set, and I wait for an opportunity to pass, but never have to mess with braking, adjusting my speed and then resuming after I get around the other car.

 

lol! Ah, yes. Those who think they can...

"I can drive while texting..."

"I drive better drunk..."

"I only check my phone while stopped at lights..."

We know you THINK you can. Sorry, but I have too much evidence (100% of all tested subjects) supporting the contrary.

 

A lot of cars have this feature. I find it annoying, and disable it whenever I can. I know they can be adjusted, but I could never find the right setting during my temporary use of the vehicles...

 

Exactly! Those people, not using cruise control, thinking they can drive a constant speed, are thinking you're the idiot who can't make up his mind...

Always another story.

 

I DO NOT want to drive at a constant speed. I want to VARY my speed based on the traffic and the traffic flow and which cars I am sharing my piece of road with at the time. I also want to make sure it is ME that is in charge at all times and not some stupid piece of technology that can go blue screen on you. But hey, that's just me!~

 

Completely understandable.

Whether or not you choose to is completely up to you as an individual. I don't think anybody wants to NOT be in control of a vehicle, but there are plenty of arguments supporting the use of cruise control.

But how does using cruise control not leave you in charge of your vehicle?

Does your button override the driver's controls or something?

Mine does not. Perhaps you should try another model. It is nothing more than an assist, like an electric starter, or power windows and door locks,... Crazy technology these days, huh?

 

Less time spent driving and actively participating in making traffic decisions.. the more time WILL be spent potentially doing " other things" that impact reaction and situation awareness. I know I fly those little aircraft on autopilot.. Remember that Jet that overflew it's destination .. because the pilots were "working" their tables / laptops?? That is what is going to happen more and more.

 

Ya ok, if u say so

I don't participate in the activities you listed. If I am a couple of Kms off so be it but as others have said, I like to be involved in what the car is doing including having my foot on the gas

 

I wonder if they do think that. Few months ago I took a job in Washington state and drove the 1700 miles from Missouri (not in the 911). Driving down I-90 with CC on, I passed this freakin SUV at least a dozen times because they would speed up and pass me and invariably a few miles down the road I am forced to pass them because they slowed down...lather, rinse, repeat...for 300 miles!! I was relieved to finally pull over and fill up with gas hoping to never see them again.

I also remember last year leaving Las Vegas heading south on I-15 (in a rental car) late at night and having this one car constantly speed past me and then 5 miles down the road I pass them as they were driving extremely slow. This went on for an uncomfortably long time. I was almost to the point of calling the Highway Patrol because I thought the idiot was drunk or something but they finally slowed down enough I never saw them again...(visualizing in my mind them running off the road in the middle of Death Valley).

 

I love driving that way, but I quit that thirty years ago. The honest truth is driving in freeway traffic is automatic after the first million miles. I adjust to conditions and let the car's comfort level dictate the speed while my ears are listening to Beethoven and my mind is off designing a computer or planning an evening with my wife. About two CHP beats later, I'm looking at a ticket for going 90 on a lovely stretch of road that would put an autobahn to shame. And the sergeant (called in to decide) is being nice to a serviceman who actually was paced at a comfortable 110 mph. The officer remarked my skill to the aforesaid sergeant. But I still got the ticket for the lower speed. My commander chuckled. Cindy's budget that month did not. And the sad thing is going that fast on a freeway isn't even fun. Just a routine boring cruise.

Turning on cruise control is automatic now. I only disengage it on freeways when traffic clots up enough to make the challenge of averaging 110% of the posted limit engaging. The rest of the time, my automatic responses lead me to cruising speeds in a car like a Porsche that are... expensive.

I do my fun driving on roads posted as 55 mph but with continual "Caution - 25" signs. And on the tracks of course.

Gary

 

Completely agree. If its possible (big IF), I try to put myself in pockets of space and avoid hanging in the blind spots. With trucks, I'm either completely behind or I pass as quickly as possible to keep them behind me. It's easier to do here in DFW than it was in NYC, but there was also higher competency level w/NYC drivers that I came to appreciate once I moved down here. There is an unpredictability factor down here that makes the simplest and shortest drive like a chase scene from Lethal Weapon, complete w/flying boats and jackknifed tractor trailers.

 

It is already happening, but to people who think they can multitask to begin with. See, I view cruise control as an active choice to considerate driving - already a GIANT leap ahead of those who think that their social networking method of choice is the only activity they can do to pass the time between destinations.
Exactly. Probably someone else who thinks cruise control is a crazy button that takes control of their car.



Probably thought,"crazy Porsche owners..."
Agreed.

Driving 100mph is cool down speed nowadays. Definitely not worth the possible ticket it garnishes...

I'd rather do 150mph+ all weekend for that price.

 

There's a man with his priorities straight.

Gary