Ralph Teetor was an inventor despite being blind, what car accessory did he invent?

Ralph Teetor invented cruise control, originally developing the device under names such as Speedostat. The American mechanical engineer was blind from childhood, after an eye injury led to sympathetic ophthalmia and the loss of his sight in both eyes. He nevertheless became a major figure in automotive engineering.

The idea for speed control reportedly came from Teetor’s frustration as a passenger in a car driven by his friend and patent attorney, Harry Lindsey. Lindsey tended to speed up while talking and slow down while listening. Teetor began working on a mechanism that could maintain a steady speed without constant pressure on the accelerator.

Teetor filed a patent for his speed-control device in 1948. Chrysler introduced a version called “Auto-Pilot” in 1958, and Cadillac later marketed the technology as “Cruise Control,” the name that became standard. Modern systems can add braking and radar assistance, but the basic purpose remains the same: maintaining a selected vehicle speed.