Adaptive cruise control is a safety feature for many new cars. Just like any cruise control, it assists by maintaining a speed without the driver having to do any work. However, as a safety feature, ACC (for short) also keeps a safe following distance from other vehicles. While this helps car owners drive safer, it is only a feature, not a faultless system. If car drivers depend on ACC and do not pay attention, it can easily become dangerous. Especially for vehicles that are harder to detect, such as motorcycles.

Adaptive Cruise Control: A Threat to Riders?

Motorcycles are more difficult to spot on the road because they are smaller than your typical car. Take for example, a car driver who is using adaptive cruise control and decides to text and drive. No doubt, the ACC maintains the speed of the car. However, the driver still needs to give their attention to the road. As we’ve said, no system is faultless. Not to mention, we are in a time where these features are recently being adapted. Therefore, if there is ever a time for error— it is now. So, say you’re texting, using this cruise control feature, and out of nowhere, you rear end a motorcycle. In most scenarios, this would be less than ideal but still a family quick process.

Motorcyclists are more susceptible to injury than your typical passenger car driver when it comes to a fender bender…

Serious personal injury or death is a possibility every time a motorcycle is part of a crash. So, this is example number one as to why adaptive cruise control should be a helper and not something you rely on to get you home safely.

Every driver knows, cruise control helps by maintaining speed without the driver having to hit the gas. However, keeping drivers at a safe following distance is a huge responsibility that, sometimes, a machine might not be able to account for. Maintaining an appropriate distance behind other vehicles is the duty of the driver, not the machine.

No doubt, cruise control is beneficial to drivers, but it is not an excuse to be distracted behind the wheel. In short, when using adaptive cruise control,  car drivers still need to give their undivided attention to the road. If not, they can cause a wreck ending with serious injuries for drivers and riders.