Cruise control:  I leave my button pushed in all the time on my Honda
(on the Lexus, it won't do that).  No doubt there's an OFF button
because the lawyers said so.  The perception among stupid people (which
is the vast majority of the population, including your lawmakers) would
or could be that "something went wrong, it just accelerated, I have no
idea--AHA, it's the CRUISE CONTROL, if only they gave it an OFF switch
this wouldn't have happened!"

In other words, it's a liability issue--probably much more perceived
than real, but as they say perception is reality.

VSA?  I think they're making an "off" switch mostly for marketing
purposes.  On sports cars, a good driver can go faster under some
circumstances with VSA-type controls off.  So they started giving "off"
switches to those people.  Then the magazines made an issue of it, and
now it's just a marketing gag.  There's no real reason to turn VSA off,
unless there's some condition specified in your owner's manual.

What does the current CRV owner's manual say about it?  That's the place
to start.

By the way, if you've just bought the car, find the owner's manual and
read it cover to cover.  If there's anything you don't understand, call
Honda (they have a toll-free customer service line that's probably
listed in the manual; if not, the Links page of http://www.odyclub.com 
has it).

You might come here to discuss some of the finer points of what you've
learned in the owner's manual, but PLEASE don't come here as a
substitute for reading the manual.  It's chock-full of good information,
including the aforementioned VSA.

Then keep the owner's manual someplace safe, where you can get to it,
then go back after a few months and read it again.  You'd be amazed at
what you'll pick up, things that you never knew.

And you thought you knew how to drive a car and how a car works.  Well,
you don't know how YOUR car works, not until you've read the manual.

Temporary Spare = VSA Off

Spirited driving to the limits = VSA Off

I leave my cruise on all the time because I use it frequently. People
who don't use it frequently might want to turn it off so that they
don't accidentally set it. It's sort of like the safety on a gun.