Tricks in using the Self Driving capabilities of your vehicle

Last summer we bought a Subaru Ascent All Wheel Drive Touring Vehicle.

At the time I just knew we had bought a car that is sort of like driving an Apple computer more than anything else. In other words it is maybe the most automatic car I have ever owned.

And there are good things and bad things about this. So, as we drove through Lake Tahoe and Across Nevada (where there were thousands of locusts by the way then) I started trying to use the automatic braking features of Cruise control where you set your cruise control at a speed and when any cars are in front of you your car brakes to whatever speed those cars are driving which is a wonderful feature where basically you don't have to brake very much yourself and all you have to do is steer the car and that's all most of the time.

But then, I realized on the straighter highways with less traffic that I could also let the car drive itself.

Now this can be very tricky to be safe doing this. My favorite statement is to say that it is like driving a car with your 5 year old steering it who is sitting on your lap. So, the level of focus and seriousness you need is imagining your 5 year old steering your car.

What I mean by this is the car will turn off the automatic steering unexpectedly like on a curve or going up or down a hill or whenever it is insecure about anything going on around you or your car sort of like a quixotic 5 year old.

So, you sort of need nerves of steel in order to use the full capacity of the self driving capabilities of your car or truck.

What I learned last summer was to shut off the automatic steering capability of the car BEFORE I passed any Semi Trucks on a freeway or 4 lane highway anywhere. This is for safety reasons simply because the automatic steering wanders right and left in your lane and for me this often takes me too close for comfort when passing semi trucks, especially the ones with the knife blades extending from their front wheels for steering.

So, yes, you can use your cruise control with all the self driving capabilities if you want to as long as you are imagining driving with a 5 year old on your lap steering your car.

However, if you have the nerves for it it can be a lot easier to drive long distances and you don't get as worn out physically. So, if you feel worn out it is more psychologically than anything else not physically at the end of a long drive.

Good Luck!