Blog

Why You Shouldn’t Drive With Adaptive Cruise Control in Snow?

A driving on Chevrolet's Super Cruise System
Almost every new vehicle model lineup is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, including adaptive cruise control — a hands-free driving technology that helps drivers remain active on the road, especially during long-haul journeys, while maintaining a constant speed and distance. It uses an actuator to control the throttle and acceleration for electronically managing the speed pre-set by the driver. Using the built-in cameras and sensor radars, this advanced system also calculates the speed of the vehicles moving ahead to adjust the speed of your car automatically. 

[ALSO READ: Winter Driving Tips for New Drivers]

But using this technology may not be advisable while driving in the snow because if your vehicle hydroplanes or skids, the adaptive cruise control will spin the wheels faster and accelerate to reach the initially set speed. Continue reading to learn why you shouldn’t switch to adaptive cruise control while driving through trick winter road surfaces from Budds’ Chevrolet Buick GMC experts. 

Top Reasons Why You Must Avoid Enabling Adaptive Cruise Control on Icy Roads

  1. In winter, the roads are sloppy, and you may need to press down the brake anytime to maintain the right distance and speed to avoid potential collisions with the vehicles moving ahead. Adaptive cruise control may not be able to judge such situations because it’s been enabled to maintain a pre-set speed and distance. 
  2. Adaptive cruise control relies on built-in radar sensors and cameras to determine the speed of the vehicles ahead, but during winter, they get covered under the layer of ice, snow and winter salt, failing to offer the desired results. 
  3. This driver assistance technology may also not be the best to use in dark and gloomy winter conditions with poor visibility because the nature of the system is to maintain the pre-set speed and distance, which may call for unwanted occurrences.

General Motors and other automakers have installed certain fail-safes surrounding driver assistance features, like adaptive cruise control. Some models will automatically disable specific systems if something obstructs the sensors or employing them would lead to unsafe conditions. Please consult your vehicle’s owner’s manual for more information about properly using every feature available with your vehicle. And if you need more tips on safe winter driving, feel free to visit Budds’ Chevrolet Buick GMC to get in touch with our expert automobile professionals and technicians, who’ve got years of experience in tackling such challenging situations.