cruise control

Noun

cruise control (countable and uncountable, plural cruise controls)

1. A system that maintains a vehicle at constant set speed, usually until the brake or accelerator is pressed.
   • The crash-involved truck driver had activated the vehicle’s traditional cruise control, which is only able to maintain a set speed and does not reduce that speed based on vehicles ahead.2024, NTSB, Highway Investigation Report, HIR-24-05
2. (figuratively) A state of being where tasks are completed easily and routinely.
   • Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina was badly at fault as Ramires scored at the near post after 11 minutes and Chelsea looked in cruise control when Drogba continued his love affair with the FA Cup final and Wembley with an angled finish beyond Reina.2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport
   • He seemed happy living life in cruise control, which pissed me off.2012, Gavin McInnes, The Death of Cool: From Teenage Rebellion to the Hangover of Adulthood, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 88