![\"Adaptive](\"https:\/\/www.globalvillagespace.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/why-modern-cruise-control-feels-more-annoying-than-helpful-for-drivers.jpg\" "\\"Adaptive")
<\/a><\/p>\nADAS systems are so frustrating these days you can’t help but yell at them<\/p>\n
Occasionally you see people giving their dog a stern talking to for tugging at the leash, barking at a goose or\u00a0engaging in other dog-typical behaviour.<\/p>\n
Part of me wants to say \u201cthe dog doesn\u2019t understand!\u201d, but I don\u2019t, because that would be weird. Also I do understand the urge to chastise something for only doing what its innate but relatively simple evolutionary programming tells it to do \u2013 particularly given that many modern cars come with adaptive cruise control.<\/p>\n
I often find myself shouting at a test car:\u00a0\u201cJust go 70mph, you bastard!\u201d Who decided\u00a0that adaptive cruise control is a superior version of normal cruise control, rendering the latter obsolete? Some cars still let you switch between the two, but adaptive is the default and only option with most these days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adaptive cruise control can be quite useful in dense traffic, when you\u2019ve got no choice but to just stay in your lane and go with the flow. At almost any other time on the motorway, though, I find \u2018dumb\u2019 cruise control far more relaxing: Just set it to 70mph, and when the distance to the car in front becomes uncomfortable, indicate right and overtake.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you want to do that and maintain good lane discipline with adaptive cruise control, you need to guess when the car ahead is going to start to slow and either override it with the accelerator or move to the right lane sooner than would be ideal.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to mention the stress caused by the sensors seeing ghosts and applying the brakes for no reason or deciding to slow down because there\u2019s a slight curve in the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unless you\u2019re happy to be a cruise control zombie mindlessly sitting in the middle lane at 65mph with another car glued to your rear bumper, adaptive cruise control actually requires more brainpower, effort and general babysitting from the driver. I\u2019ve spoken to several colleagues who feel the same way\u00a0about cruise control \u2013 but maybe we\u2019re in\u00a0a control-freak motoring journalist bubble.<\/p>\n
Sure, you could just not bother and use the good old accelerator pedal to manage your speed, but in a lot of cars that\u2019s surprisingly hard, because turbo lag, hybrid systems and a \u2018sporty\u2019 throttle map can conspire to make maintaining\u00a0a constant speed quite difficult. Anyway, is it too\u00a0much to ask that convenience features are actually, I don\u2019t know, convenient?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The broader issue here is \u2018smart\u2019 technology trying to make things easier by automating them but not actually being quite smart enough to do it well. It\u2019s not just cruise control; some BMWs<\/a> and Toyotas<\/a> have automatic heated and cooled seats.<\/p>\n The idea is that you never have to press a button again (luxury!<\/a> Also, no more need to make a button, so profit!), because just at the point\u00a0where you\u2019re starting to feel cold, the seat\u00a0starts to warm up. My experience of these features is actually being confused by why the heated seats have randomly stopped working.<\/p>\n