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I know not all of you are driving a car yet, but I decided to post a discussion on the topic of the feature "Cruise Control." It's a somewhat recent feature in a car that allows you to take your foot off of the accelerator pedal and the car will continue to move at its "set" speed.

I personally NEVER use cruise control on my minivan. I personally think the little button on the steering wheel is pure evil. I understand that on very long drives (as I have done many times, from mid-California to eastern Washington) your feet can get pretty tired of pushing down on that pedal while on the freeway, but personally, I trust myself a lot more than a car's internal "brain."

I'm not proposing that the vehicle is going to go crazy and fly me off the side of the road or anything, but if there is an emergency situation occuring on the freeway (or anywhere else you have decided to use your cruise control), it's a lot more natural to use your usual driving routine to get you out of an accident. I know that if you simply tap the breaks while cruise control is enabled, that it turns off and you have full control again. But there are plenty of situations where breaking is not the way to avoid the accident.

The other thing is falling asleep. Plenty of individuals have fallen asleep at the wheel while using the pedals as usual... or even in some cases with a stick shift! If it's possible to fall asleep while doing all that monkey motion... how easy do you think it would be to accidentally fall asleep while cruise control was enabled?? All you need is the steering wheel, while the rest of you is motionless... and on a freeway, you hardly use the steering wheel, unless you're the type to weave in and out of lanes passing people (if so, this is how I feel towards you: mad ).

What are your thoughts on Cruise Control? Are you for it or against it?

I don't know if my car even has cruise control, did they have it on cars back in '93?

I probably wouldn't use it anyway, I'm more or less terrified of driving. It's a good way to stay awake on the road, I suppose. sweatdrop

I once took a road trip with my ex where he used cruise control in a car with no air bags and faulty seat belts. Normally I would have been terrified, but there was no one on the road whenever he used it so that made me feel better (however not entirely so.)

Personally, I would never use cruise control, though it's a very tempting feature. However they are trying to make it better. I forget exactly how it worked, but my parents were looking into a new car recently where even if the car was in cruise control, it would automatically slow down if something came to close to it based on it's speed. However, this feature was extremely expensive and like you said, might make things worse. There are definately situations in the car where it is better to speed up in order to avoid an accident than to slow down.

I guess I just don't trust people enough to use cruise control responsibly, or for cruise control to even work. So, I suppose that means I would feel a little safer in my car if it weren't there.

Crap. I think I'm getting carpel tunnel....

i hate cruise control b/c what if you were like going to hit some thing and its stuck or you can't change it very fast you'll kill your self

I can understand your concerns about sleeping, but if you're a safe driver, you should know when you're tired enough to sleep. I don't drive personally, but my mom drove me to college and it wil like a 6 hour trip. I'd think my foot would get tire dnad I'd use CC, even if it's not foolproof.

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i hate it my hubby uses it not stop, its annoying i ask him one day if he knew how to drive without it,he had to tell me no because that was the only way he was taught to drive burning_eyes