The cruise control feature of a car has always had me a bit apprehensive to ever using it on long trips. I always develop these tentative feelings of the cruise control malfunctioning or maybe my reaction time to some impending disaster not quick enough; whatever it might be, I prefer to keep my foot on the gas and brake.
However, I no longer have an excuse. Whereas many luxury automotive companies are focused on developing the radar-based cruise control functions of their cars, Nissan decided to put all to shame by innovating a technology that integrates a car's GPS navigation system to dictate vehicle speed. With conventional cruise control systems, you turn it on and you maintain one speed. However, with Nissan's set-up, the system will get road and route information from the GPS system, account for curves and turns, and will actually appropriate the vehicle's speed to make the turn and accelerate accordingly as well.
Another cool feature of the Nissan Distance Control Assist is notifying the driver of road blocks, disasters, traffic problems, etc. by pushing the gas pedal against the driver's foot to slow the car down and depending on the direness of the situation, will actually set off an audio warning and message telling the driver to brake.
This is great news for me. It's another step toward driving and taking me, the driver, out of the equation. Because the repercussion of a vehicle's luxury making a driver more inattentive is always a concern, I'm just waiting for the day that I can snap my fingers and just teleport from point A to B. But for now, this will have to do. Happy driving everyone!
-Rack of Lam
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