3 ms·

The consistent speed thing is so crazy to me as someone who almost always uses cruise control. Why don’t more people use it? (Pretty sure it’s been standard on

The consistent speed thing is so crazy to me as someone who almost always uses cruise control. Why don’t more people use it? (Pretty sure it’s been standard on every car since like 2005?) If people used cruise control and stayed in their lane most of the time (i.e. not switching lanes constantly to try and “get ahead”) I feel like traffic would improve noticeably everywhere. When I drove in Germany it was eye opening to no longer be the exception as a person actually following the rules and not driving like someone on amphetamines in a rush for a meeting. It’s the same feeling when you work at a company with bad management and then work at one with good management: “You mean I can just trust you to do your job…?” -> “You mean I can trust you to drive a car at high speeds without killing me…?”

ghaff 4y ago
>(Pretty sure it’s been standard on every car since like 2005?) Only have had adaptive cruise control the past few months. I had regular cruise control for ages. I mostly stopped using it. On roads with any amount of traffic, I found it encouraged driving in a way that prioritized maintaining speed no matter what including getting close or changing lanes when it really wasn't necessary. And if I just constantly overrode it, why bother using it?
- alar44 4y ago
  Because it makes you more predictable to other drivers.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Staying in a lane while also maintaining appropriate distances seems better than focusing on maintaining constant speed in traffic. The key is whether you can maintain a reasonable constant speed relative to traffic without changing lanes. Basically, always driving at exactly the speed limit to the degree possible is a questionable heuristic when there are a lot of cars.
  - frosted-flakes 4y ago
    On freeways, yes. But on city streets and roads with many intersections, driveways, turn lanes, etc., I don't think that's really true.
    - alar44 4y ago
      Right, my assumption is that we were talking about highway driving.
- khalilravanna 4y ago
  Yeah for sure in serious traffic it can be useless but in most situations I still try to use it. You find gaps in traffic with a car in front going the speed you want and then match their speed. I find if you do this you can often find a good gap to just sit in for extended periods of time while the rest of the jabronis go around. And I think if more people took this approach en masse we’d actually see a lot of dangerous behavior disappear.
- HPsquared 4y ago
  Basic cruise control doesn't really work if you need to keep passing other cars, but if you're content to cruise in the slow lane it's pretty chilled-out. Still need to adjust speed occasionally though.
golemiprague 4y ago

ghaff 4y ago

>(Pretty sure it’s been standard on every car since like 2005?) Only have had adaptive cruise control the past few months. I had regular cruise control for ages. I mostly stopped using it. On roads with any amount of traffic, I found it encouraged driving in a way that prioritized maintaining speed no matter what including getting close or changing lanes when it really wasn't necessary. And if I just constantly overrode it, why bother using it?

alar44 4y ago
Because it makes you more predictable to other drivers.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Staying in a lane while also maintaining appropriate distances seems better than focusing on maintaining constant speed in traffic. The key is whether you can maintain a reasonable constant speed relative to traffic without changing lanes. Basically, always driving at exactly the speed limit to the degree possible is a questionable heuristic when there are a lot of cars.
- frosted-flakes 4y ago
  On freeways, yes. But on city streets and roads with many intersections, driveways, turn lanes, etc., I don't think that's really true.
  - alar44 4y ago
    Right, my assumption is that we were talking about highway driving.
khalilravanna 4y ago
Yeah for sure in serious traffic it can be useless but in most situations I still try to use it. You find gaps in traffic with a car in front going the speed you want and then match their speed. I find if you do this you can often find a good gap to just sit in for extended periods of time while the rest of the jabronis go around. And I think if more people took this approach en masse we’d actually see a lot of dangerous behavior disappear.
HPsquared 4y ago
Basic cruise control doesn't really work if you need to keep passing other cars, but if you're content to cruise in the slow lane it's pretty chilled-out. Still need to adjust speed occasionally though.

golemiprague 4y ago