Cars should be equipped with a cruise control modethat would allow them to match exactly the speed of the car in front.

This cruise control would be coupled with a small radar or something, and would let the traffic flow more smoothly, in a more uniform fashion.

I am not talking about real jams here with stop and go's, but rather those serious slowdowns, where everyone is moving, but around 5-20 mph, with constant brakes application, acceleration, etc.

That 'break flashing' is really a problem, since it makes the car behind you break a little more, etc etc. While with my manual transmission i can slow down without hitting breaks and spooking and irritating the person behind me, a lot of people with automatics can't. Or they just don't get it.

This would also help cars without such cruise control mode, since if my break lights are not flashed constantly, and traffic flows, albeit slow, it's much better for the car, for the driver and everyone else around as was previously discussed.
-- yu-, Dec 11 2002

Speed sync-cruise http://www.halfbake...Speed_20sync-cruise
Already HalfBaked. [phoenix, Oct 04 2004]

Mercedes Distronic http://www.mbusa.co...M1000007c184335____
[DIYMatt, Nov 23 2010]

BMW Active Cruise Control http://www.bmw.com/...cruise_control.html
[DIYMatt, Nov 23 2010]

Lexus Adaptive Cruise Control http://www.lexus.eu...cruise-control.aspx
[DIYMatt, Nov 23 2010]

"You control your destiny. You are a driver." http://spectator.or...at-drive-themselves
[mouseposture, Nov 24 2010]

No, not like that button.

The main idea behind that button is to make the driver's work easier, to safe the clutch etc, but not to make the car move uniformly.

The main idea about this cruise control thing is to completely automate this and take this task off of the driver's schoulders completely.

Btw, yes, i know that newer, i think, SL500 Mercedes has a radar that starts breaking even before the driver reacts and slams on the breaks, but that's for high speeds and that's different.
-- yu-, Dec 11 2002


Why would Mercedes use a radar that's designed to break? I thought their cars were better than that.
-- Guncrazy, Dec 11 2002


Win ewe break uh germ and caret brakes into.
-- FarmerJohn, Dec 11 2002


BMW's ACC (Automatic Cruis Control) ?
-- missionimpossible, Jun 07 2004


I was thinking about the same but with automatic steering wheel control added.

You shouldn't be in much trouble if you are keeping the distance with the front car by 2-3 meters and follow its track (at low speeds like 25 km/h of course). Locking on the front car could be done with a camera and image-recognition software that recognizes its registration plate.

It shouldn't be very hard to do computationally. I don't know why it isn't baked already (if it isn't).
-- anyman, Jun 24 2008


//I don't know why it isn't baked already// You're thinking of a car as a means of transportation. For some people, it has a strong emotional valence. Giving up control of the car, to any degree, is all about *giving up control* You'd have to pry the steering wheel out of their cold, dead hands.
-- mouseposture, Nov 23 2010


//Giving up control of the car, to any degree, is all about *giving up control*//

And also, it is baked. By several manufacturers. Because this is 2010. And this idea is from 2002.
-- DIYMatt, Nov 23 2010


And, in 2010, still meeting with resistance, witness some of the more hysterical comments in the comments thread here <link>
-- mouseposture, Nov 24 2010



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