Dynamic Laser Cruise Control (DLCC) is a relatively new technology that is mainly found on luxury vehicles, like the Lexus LS 430 and RX 330. But Toyota is making it available on the top-end versions of the Avalon sedan and Sienna minivan, the models used for our demonstration at the company’s Arizona proving grounds.
Designed to automatically maintain pre-set distances between your car and vehicles ahead, DLCC is not a collision avoidance system, and Toyota emphasizes that it will not prevent accidents. You cannot rely on DLCC to stop the car if traffic up ahead suddenly grinds to a halt.
Rather, DLCC maintains safe, pre-set distances between your vehicle and the cars in front of you in light to moderate traffic that is flowing reasonably well. It works by firing a laser beam from the front of your car. The laser beam reflects off the vehicles ahead and is captured by a receiver that transmits the data to a computer, which calculates the following distance. If the following distance is less than the pre-determined distance, your car will automatically slow down. And if someone cutting in front suddenly halves the distance, the system will activate the brake lights as your car slows so that motorists following you won’t introduce their cars to yours.
Sounds complicated? You’re right, and it gets worse. Select from three different following distances, depending on conditions. And if you want more control over your driving, DLCC offers a conventional operation mode, but it’s not the default setting so you’ve got to use the cruise control switch to change modes. Shut the car off while refueling, and the system returns to the default DLCC setup. Furthermore, DLCC doesn’t work in the rain, disengaging after three swipes of the wiper blades. And in climates where it snows, precipitation can cover the laser emitter or the laser receiver, rendering DLCC inoperable. Ditto if mud gets on the front of the car.
During our demonstration on the 10-mile oval track at the Toyota Arizona Proving Grounds, DLCC worked well. But keep in mind that this was a controlled experiment, we had a DLCC pro riding shotgun, and we still exited the Avalon Limited thinking the system was complicated to use. Since that exercise, we’ve had the extreme displeasure of using a similar system from a competing automaker out in the real world, which makes us think that Toyota squandered its engineering talent and budget on DLCC.
Build a system that recognizes when some total idiot performs a braking test in the left lane of the freeway, dropping commute speeds from 60 mph to zero in the time it takes to yell “Holy Crap!” because somebody jumped out of the carpool lane to careen across five lanes of traffic for an exit, and then we can talk.
