Keeping Control While Using Your Cruise Control

On extended trips or extra long interstate highway commutes, a driver’s foot can very easily fall asleep or become fatigued by continuously applying pressure to an automobile’s accelerator pedal. As well as fatigue, achieving a continuous and steadily maintained cruising speed is extremely beneficial in fuel management and conservation. Modern cruise control as we know it was invented by blind inventor and mechanical engineer Ralph Teetor in 1945, who had grown tired and frustrated by the way his lawyer would apply and release acceleration when engaged in conversation. Today, automobilists worldwide have come to rely on Teetor’s innovative invention, yet many are not fully aware of how to take best advantage of cruise control while maintaining optimal safety and hazard-free cruising.

It is essential to check your local laws, especially when travelling abroad, as many countries have outlawed use of cruise control within city limits. Nearly impossible to be caught breaking this law, but assuredly, local lawmakers have put the law into effect because of unseen hazards that have a history of causing accidents. Cruise control should be employed on long stretches of sparsely populated highway cruising; it is just not so helpful or safe in that jam-packed morning commute. Because of cruise-control’s often “set it and forget it” application, driver attentiveness is paramount, especially as driving conditions change. Certain terrain is not advantageous to cruise control application, such as ascending and descending through rolling hills or mountain passes. An automobile’s engine will find itself in a state of constant flux as it accelerates and decelerates as the grade changes, wrecking havoc on fuel efficiency efforts, and perhaps even becoming hazardous, causing on occasion uncontrolled descents. Cruise control can most definitely become disadvantageous, even hazardous when inclement weather arises. Concerns have risen recently involving the use of cruise control in slick conditions especially, with many discussing the perils of hydroplaning and cruise control particularly. When in a skid or hydroplaning, a driver’s first instinct could be to apply too much pressure to the brake pedal, increasing the skid and loss of control. With cruise employed, this hazard is neither heightened nor lessened, however, driving with it engaged in inclement weather is inadvisable nonetheless simply because of the lack of manual control by the operator.

Cruise control is an excellent tool for keeping speeding under control, increasing fuel efficiency in optimal situations, and for making that long journey a little more comfortable for the driver. As with any tool that could promote driver inattention, it can cause accidents when drivers are distracted, or even hypnotized by the sameness of the approaching asphalt. If involved in an accident with a distracted driver, it is necessary that you and your loved ones are protected by an accident attorney that has experience, education, and intelligence, and that will insure you are dealt with fairly after safety has been assured.

Lloyd Robles heads Robles & Associates, an Austin, Texas based firm, specializing in personal injury law.