How Intelligent Is Automatic Cruise Control?

Will your next car be able to drive itself? Maybe not, but automatic cruise control technologies bring your car a step closer to being fully automatic.

Automatic cruise control, unlike traditional cruise control, uses either lasers or radar to adjust the car’s speed automatically when approaching another vehicle.

First introduced by Mercedes-Benz in 1998, the technology has since become a common feature in luxury brands, such as BMW, Lexus, Jaguar, and Infiniti. However, as the technology becomes more affordable, it’s a safe bet that it will start showing up in more economical models. General Motors is planning to offer automatic cruise control for its 2008 models. GM expects to offer it for under $1,830.

Just how effective are these systems? Can you count on them to slow down before you end up in a collision? The good news is that government studies have shown automatic cruise control to reduce your chances of crashing into the car in front of you. Not only that, but it has also been proven to maximize fuel efficiency.

But like any technology, automatic cruise control has its pros and cons. Computerized traffic simulations have shown that when multiple vehicles with automatic cruise control interact with each other, the result is a wave of acceleration and deceleration. The effect has another name when caused by human drivers: A rolling slowdown. In other words, automatic cruise control has the potential to cause traffic jams.

That’s not the only drawback of automatic cruise control. It’s also been found to cause motion sickness in drivers. The reason drivers don’t usually experience motion sickness is because they can anticipate sudden changes in speed. However, with automatic cruise control, the driver may become disconcerted by rapid shifts in speed, potentially leading to driver errors.

Then of course there’s the concern that automatic cruise control could cause some drivers to pay less attention to the road. But this isn’t necessarily a drawback of the technology itself.

Down The Road
Automatic cruise control is just the tip of the iceberg. GM’s automatic cruise control system will also feature automatic steering. A number of cameras and sensors will scan for lines on the road. If the computer detects the vehicle slipping out of the lane, it will automatically put it back on the road. While GM says that it has performed accurately in tests, it remains to be seen if drivers and governments will approve of the technology.

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