Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is a driver assistance system that is now also available in compact-class vehicles. The system determines the speed of a vehicle in front and maintains a distance set by the driver by braking or accelerating.
This is intended to relieve the driver of the vehicle, especially on longer journeys and with decreasing concentration, and to ensure the safety distance. However, according to a study by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), drivers are much more likely to be driving too fast when they use ACC. Many drivers therefore set the cruise control to a speed that is above the respective speed limit – which of course runs completely counter to the purpose of this safety assistant.
This consists in the fact that the ACC constantly measures the distance to the “vehicle in front” and regulates its own speed accordingly. This should always ensure a sufficient safety distance, which allows to react in good time to events in the traffic in front of the ACC vehicle. If a collision is imminent, modern ACC systems can also initiate emergency braking if necessary. The adaptive cruise control also works if, after overtaking, another vehicle cuts in between the ACC car and the previous vehicle.
According to the current study by the IIHS – an independent institution supported by car insurers whose aim is to improve safety on (US) expressways – many drivers who are on the road with activated ACC tend to drive significantly faster than allowed . According to measurements by the IIHS experts, 95 percent of drivers drove faster with ACC than with their own manual distance control (77 percent). The investigation also revealed that, following the same pattern, drivers are faster when they have a lane departure warning system on board in addition to the ACC. According to the findings of the IIHS, the assisted drivers were also more likely to accelerate than those without electronic aids.
ACC undoubtedly means a gain in safety, admits the IIHS in the summary of the study. But it should not be overlooked how drivers counteract this improvement by abusing the system, warns the lead author of the investigation, Sam Monfort. According to the study, this is particularly true for roads with a speed limit of 55 miles per hour (equivalent to almost 90 km / h).
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