Automatic Cruise Control from Bosch

• Investigations into ACC prove it: more safety, less stress
• Already available to order for many new models
• New catalogue of fines threatens swingeing penalties for driving too close

Professional stress and the increasing density of road traffic take their toll: time is running out for the next appointment, the vehicle ahead does not get out of the way fast enough and the distance camera was invisible on the other side of the motorway bridge. From 1st May, the penalty for driving less than 15 metres behind the vehicle in front at 100 kph (approx. 60 mph) in Germany can even involve a driving ban for one month

Bosch reduces this risk with one of its driver assist systems. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) promotes safe, relaxed long-distance driving. Investigations have shown that the number of instances where drivers using ACC reduce their safety distance to an excessive or dangerous extent is reduced by around 70%. This driver assist system thus increases traffic safety and reduces the risk of fines or driving bans. In addition to this, the consistent use of ACC can even save fuel.

ACC not only regulates the vehicle's speed automatically, it also adapts this speed to that of the vehicle in front – by reducing acceleration or even independently applying the brakes. The driver sets both the desired speed and the safety distance to the vehicle ahead, the system keeps to the set values as far as traffic permits. So it is particularly on long trips and when driving in convoy that ACC ensures a stress-free and comfortable trip, avoiding the unnoticed tendency to creep up on the vehicle ahead. As with normal cruise controls, the driver can, of course, overrule ACC control at any time.

The ACC function is already available for many new models of passenger car and in most classes of vehicle not only as "ACC" but also under such designations as "automatic distance regulation" or "Distronic".