A vehicle gesture control system for a host vehicle, the host vehicle including an adaptive cruise control or autonomous drive arrangement, the system including a sensor to detect gestures performed by a driver on the surface of a steering wheel grip in the host vehicle, the steering wheel grip including a circular tube surrounding a steering wheel that rotates about a steering column, and a processor receiving outputs from the sensor and connected to a memory unit storing instructions for the processor to activate a plurality of features of the adaptive cruise control or autonomous drive arrangement in response to a respective plurality of different gestures detected by the sensor, wherein two of the gestures represent “up” and “down” commands and include movement of the driver's thumb in opposite directions, respectively, around a lateral section of the steering wheel grip that faces the driver.