All Cars, All the Time

Adaptive Cruise Control Cruises For Sales

Autoweek is reporting that due to both cost and legal issues, sales of adaptive cruise control (ACC) hasn't taken off. Legal issues stem from exactly how much control the car can wrestle away from the driver should it see a potential crash situation forming. I've tested ACC on a Cadillac XLR and I thought it was great! I haven't been able to really use cruise control in my area due to the strong traffic, but ACC made it possible. I remember at one point my wife and I were cruising along and all of a sudden we were slowing down. My wife looked at me and said "What's with the slowing down?" It turns out that the Prius in front of us had pulled his foot off the accelerator but hadn't hit the brake so without any brake lights it was very difficult for us to see that the Prius was slowing down rapidly, but the ACC system knew immediately. Without ACC would have there been a crash? No. But there would have been some hard braking and grumbling from the passenger seat. I consider ACC to be a safety feature. For example, Infiniti uses the system to precharge the brakes when it sees a potential event up ahead. When you do hit the brakes, the car slows down much more rapidly with less pedal effort. The Autoweek article sites automotive suppliers such as Bosch who expect ACC take up rate to increase once the price is lowered to around $1200-$1300. I'd say the feature is definitely worth the money. Original article here.