Can your front seat passenger switch off the cruise control if you become seriously unwell or worse?
Similarly could you switch off the CC if your driver became seriously unwell or worse?
David's comments below in another thread reminded me of the risks.
>>Scary Faults - David Horn
>>The Honda cruise control disconnect is in 3 places - brake pedal, master switch, and steering wheel.
Irritatingly, it's not on the handbrake (wouldn't have killed them to add one more microswitch),
so if I died at the wheel I have no idea what a passenger would need to do. :-)
My MkII Mondeo has no handbrake CC switch.
Are all cars configured this way?
I have raised concerns before about this shortcoming of CC.
My concern was met with a a big silence when I raised it at a Advanced Motoring presentation.
There have certainly been crashes when CC was selected and the driver became unwell / died.
I have explained to SWIMBO how to react if I have a problem.
The CC kill button on my Mondeo is at least on the left side of the steering wheel
IMO there should be a health warning on all cars with CC that do not have a handbrake switch off for the CC.
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maybe they should have a voice activated cut off that is activated when the passenger screams loud enough
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he cruise control on my Skoda Octavia is on the indicator stalk, so within easy reach of the passenger. However if they know how to turn it off is another matter......
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Even more crucial, I would think - can a front seat passenger activate any of the other essential controls (brake, clutch, hazard light switch,...) should the unthinkable occur? And what if the front passenger is a non-driver, very young, very short, and a long list of etceteras? Would s/he have the presence of mind, rapid reflexes, strength and agility even to take the wheel and try to steer an otherwise doomed car to safety??
Having said that, it is incredible how the vast majority of front seat passengers show the most stunning dexterity with radio/CD controls, mirrors, windows, ventilation and heating controls, to say nothing of mounting a lightning raid on glovebox, door bins and every other conceivable storage space which would put the FBI to shame...
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>>maybe they should have a voice activated cut off that is activated when the passenger screams loud enough
I want to die in my sleep, like my dad, not screaming and shouting like his passengers.
Sorry, old joke!
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cruise control and other similar self-drive features have been installed in cars for years now, yet i dont think I can remember ever reading about any passengers that have died when the "driver" "dropped-dead" and the car carried on and met with disaster, so I suggest that although this may have previously happened, it is basically a rarity, on the same frquency as "skidding on black-ice whilst passing a scrappy, and ending up in the crusher". If the "dead-driver" syndrome was to occur, how the passengers survived/perished would depend on two factors, a) how much time they actually had to react. and b) if they were a driver or not. (a driver would have more idea how to stop a runaway than a non-driver)
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If I were a passenger and the driver collapsed, I think cruise control would be the least of my worries.
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Even without CC,the driver can collapse with his foot on the accelerator and surely the steering wheel switch is closer than the h/brake.
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What happens if both the driver and the passenger die at the same time? Maybe they should put an off switch in the back as well for any passengers there. Unless they die at the same time as well.
I usually drive alone, but with the dogs. So I'm thinking of training one of them (or all of them, just in case one dies at the same time as me) to push a button in their carrier. Maybe I should put some blocks on the pedals so they can take over if needed. I saw a dog driving a car on 'That's Life!' once, so it must be possible.
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