The automatic speed regulator: when to use it and when not

There is no doubt that the systems help with driving really make the task much easier for drivers. And is that, cars have evolved a lot in recent years in this matter. One of the most used is the automatic speed controller , also known as cruise control or cruise control .

This system helps us rest our right ankle especially during travel. Therefore, the speed controller is very comfortable , but also can also free us more than one speeding penalty for cluelessness; as long as we select a speed within the margins of the law, of course. However, there are situations in which it suits us not to use it. When to use the cruise control and when not ?

First of all, it should be noted that this system has evolved in recent years. In the beginning, it only allowed us to select a speed and modify it manually with the controls of the steering wheel. Now we have the adaptive cruise control , which reduces the speed automatically if the vehicle in front of us goes slower, keeping the safe distance without the driver intervening.

How the control works Cruise

The Cruise control is a system that, although it helps us a lot, has a very basic operating principle. When activated and select a speed, the electronics simply is responsible for managing the accelerator to maintain that speed . When we face a slope and detects that the vehicle loses speed, it increases the load to re-stabilize in which we had preselected.

It should be said that the first models with speed regulator were somewhat abrupt in this sense, they accelerated quite hard when they noticed that we were facing a hill and, therefore, it was noticeable in the cabin. They are now much softer when it comes to increasing the load, improving comfort and the feeling of safety and control for both the driver and passengers.

How to deactivate the speed controller

To deactivate it, you only have to press the button on the steering wheel for that function. Of course, it is also automatically deactivated by just touching the brake pedal and, on vehicles with a manual gearbox, by stepping on the clutch . If by any circumstance of the circulation we see ourselves in need of having to accelerate more, we simply press the accelerator again.

​​How adaptive cruise control works

This variant shares all of the above with the standard cruise control, only increases its functions and security . It may be the case that, with the conventional speed controller, we get confused and get too close to the vehicle that precedes us without maintaining a correct safety distance.

The adaptive cruise control

strong>, by means of a radar located in the front of the vehicle, it reduces the speed of our car if it detects that in front of us there is another vehicle relatively close and maintains an optimum safety distance .If the vehicle that precedes us moves away, the system increases the speed and returns to recover the one we had selected.

When to use the cruise control

Normally, the first times we use control We do not feel comfortable at all, because we are not used to our car continuing to accelerate if we do not order it directly with the right pedal. In any case, that fear becomes comfortable shortly after you start using it, but always you have to use it when the driving conditions are optimal .

Fast roads with little traffic

Ideally, activate the speed controller on express roads (highways and highways) in situations little traffic That's when we can extract more match from cruise control, whether adaptive or not, because we can really relax our right foot since we will not have to be deactivating it and varying the speed constantly fixed.

As I said above, we will save fines for speeding by dismissal. We must also bear in mind that, by maintaining a stable speed, logic tells us that we can save some fuel , because if we drive the accelerator in a traditional way we will vary the speed more unintentionally.

At responsible speeds

Although the maximum limit of our roads is 120 km/h, it may be that" some day we go a little faster "than we should, or that we travel to Germany and drive through a section of Autobahn without speed limit. Better to use it only at speeds "within normal" , because if we go very fast we travel many more meters since we want to deactivate it until we do it and it may not be very safe.

In conditions of good visibility

Ideally, in addition to activating the speed controller on fast roads, in conditions of low traffic and at politically correct speeds, it is to do so when visibility is good . It is not that we can not use it during the night, but we will feel safer on sunny days, without rain and without fog.

When not to use the cruise control span>

As you are going to check, we should not use this driving aid when the logic says it.

En ciudad

In this picture, the cruise control appears deactivated

When driving through the city we are constantly accelerating, changing gear, braking, changing from one lane to another, making use of the turn signals, looking through the rear-view mirrors, be careful with that pedestrian who crosses ... That is to say, changes of pace and much more work than on the open road.Moreover, many models do not let it activate below 50 km/h.

With heavy traffic

If we drive on roads Two-way traffic or fast roads with a lot of traffic is also not recommended. The changes of pace are frequent, as well as overtaking and lane changes, so we will have a greater control and more agility if we dispense with their use in these traffic conditions.

On the contrary, some models with adaptive cruise control also have the function of assistant in traffic jams ; although only vehicles with an automatic gearbox can incorporate it. In traffic jams - as we drive at very low speed, we stop and start -, the system maintains a safe distance with the vehicle that precedes us and is capable of stopping the car completely and resuming the march when it moves again. All this automatically. It is usually combined with lane maintenance assistance.

Winding Roads

On twisty roads, such as those found in ports of mountain, we are going accelerating and braking constantly, so in this kind of way it does not make sense to activate the automatic speed regulator. In addition, in these roads the visibility is reduced by the abundance of curves, so we could find an obstacle with little margin of reaction.

During adverse weather conditions

Again, and following the logic, we do not recommend using it when the weather conditions are complicated. With rain, fog or snow we have less visibility and, obviously, our tires offer a less grip . We can find a puddle unexpectedly and, although the cruise control is automatically deactivated if the stability control comes into action, we better anticipate to increase our security.