speed on
Using cruise control doesn't mandate that you don't change your speed at all - I guess what I meant was when changing lanes you learn to plan when and where you are going to change lanes so that either you don't have to change speed, or you do so when it wouldn't slow down somebody else, or that you time it with a slight change in speed so that you don't slow down somebody else.
Basically, when I'm using cruise control - and this buttumes that the traffic isn't particularly congested, because it's unlikely to be suitable then - I try and plan lane changes so that I don't have to do anything other than let cruise control do it's thing. However, if I'm approaching slower traffic and there's other faster traffic, then I'll either have to time plan it better, so that I don't slow anybody down, or consider changing my speed (ie up or down) so that I don't slow anybody else down.
Some people seem to have the view that using cruise control isn't tenable unless the roads are almost deserted, but I don't find that. When it's heavily congested it's often unsuitable, but at other times, just needs good observation and planning.
I often see some drivers on motorways that must really like whatever lane they are in, because when they approach slower traffic, and there's no other approaching faster traffic, the first thing they do is brake, then they seem to think about what to do - and as a following driver I can see that there's nothing whatsoever preventing them from pbutting in an overtaking lane - yet it seems for some, their first response is to brake - if they'd been observing and planning better, they'd have realised that all they'd needed to do is move over a lane to pbutt. I do wonder if it's those sorts of drivers who see cruise control as something practically unusable, these days.
