Last updated on August 7th, 2023 at 12:28 pm
If you wonder what is cruise control it is something which makes driving pleasurable as its convenient for any person who is driving long distances. Imagine the feeling you get when you are being driven… It is a luxury for most of the people as you just have to sit and enjoy the ride until you reach the destination. Similarly, if your vehicle has cruise control you can experience the same, as you just have to activate cruise control and your vehicle will take you at the same speed until you reach the destination and you could just enjoy the ride.
Cruise control does not mean self-driving hence it cannot control the car, it can only control the speed of the car. After you activate cruise control whenever you want to disengage it you need to press the break and it will deactivate cruise control allowing you to manually accelerate.
The Pros of Cruise Control
- Relaxing
You don’t have to worry about keeping your foot on the accelerator to speed as cruise control will maintain the same speed you want throughout your journey and this definitely is relaxing specially when you drive long distances.
- Controls your speed
The tendency of the driver increasing the speed when driving is controlled through cruise control and this prevents the many accidents that happen today because of speeding. Specially when people drive long distances since they want to reach the destination quickly they tend to speed and this results in accidents.
- Saves gas
You must be wondering how cruise control can save gas. Cruise control means your vehicle will be traveling at a constant speed throughout and this in turn results in saving gas because when the speed is constant it substantially increases the fuel efficiency.
The Cons of Cruise Control
- Less awareness and vigilance on the road
Even though cruise control is relaxing one must be very careful because it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to be vigilant on the things around you when you have cruise control. Its true that cruise control will maintain the speed you require, however if someone suddenly crosses the road or the vehicle in front of you breaks you have to be attentive enough to react to those situations by quickly pressing the break. Cruise control will only adhere to the speed you feed them but imagine it suddenly starts to rain and the roads are slippery, In such an instance it is up to the driver to reduce the speed as cruise control cannot automatically change speeds unless the driver changes the speed.
- Failure in the technology of cruise control
A rare but a possible situation would be when you are on cruise control suddenly you press the break and it does not work and you find it difficult to stop the vehicle. This is a very uncommon situation, but it is a possibility as technology can fail.
Can you use cruise control in the rain?
As explained in the cons of cruise control it was established that one must be very careful in using cruise control as if it suddenly starts raining the roads will get slippery so you need to be able to quickly switch off cruise control so that you can manually increase or decrease the speed. Hence it is strictly advisable not to use cruise control when its raining, windy or when the roads are slippery.
Does Cruise control save gas?
Yes, it surely does. Every time you switch your foot between the accelerator and the break it consumes more gas. Hence due to the consistent speed that cruise control gives, the consumption of gas would be far less resulting in saving gas. Hence cruise control surely does save gas that manually accelerating the vehicle. There are also other tips that you should know of saving gas apart from cruise control as these will come in handy for you when ensuring that your vehicle is fuel efficient.
- Drive conservatively
Do not press the break or the accelerator too hard, drive smoothly in a moderate speed. The more you keep pressing the accelerator or the break the more gas it consumes.
- Drive the speed limit
When you are driving on the highway at certain places the speed limit increases, however a tip in saving gas would be to keep the same speed throughout the journey but of course it should be a speed which is within the given speed limit
- Avoid idling
Reminds me of the days I use to travel with my father in his car. If we have to stop somewhere till my mother picks something from the nearby shop he would still switch off the car engine even if it means only for 5 minutes as he was obsessed in saving gas.
However today I do realize the amount of gas you could save when you switch off the engine while you are idling. When a vehicle is idling it consumes a lot of gas hence if you have to stop the car for something ensure that you switch off the engine of your car without leaving it in idling mode.
Cruise control as seen in the article has both advantages and disadvantages. Like every modern technology we adopt to this too should be handled with caution. Having cruise control in your car makes your life so much easy and convenient however be aware of the disadvantages of cruise control and be prudent when you are on the road.
Remember that cruise control cannot control your car, it can only go in the speed you feed it, hence we have to be very careful in using cruise control.
Most youngsters today get overly excited with cruise control and sets a high speed and activates cruise control and this is very dangerous as it may result in accidents where you can loose your life or someone else’s life. So why take the risk, be prudent and used cruise control with caution. Set speeds that are controllable and always be on the watch out as if a certain situation arises where you need to stop the vehicle while you are on cruise control you need to be able to quickly react to it. So finally, enjoy cruising the road with cruise control BUT with extreme caution.