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Driving tips
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Mobility
in city driving; heavy traffic such as during 
rush hour; on curvy, winding roads, slip-
pery roads or roads with sharp curves such 
as highway off-ramps; during inclement 
weather such as snow, strong rain or fog; 
or when entering interchanges, service/
parking areas or toll booths. It is also 
important to regulate your vehicle's speed 
and distance setting within applicable legal 
limits. Always be ready to take action or 
apply the brakes if necessary, especially 
when the system is actively following a 
vehicle in front of you.< 
Always remember that the range and 
ability of the system does have physi-
cal limitations. It will not apply the brakes or 
decelerate your vehicle when there is a 
slow-moving vehicle, stopped vehicle or 
stationary object ahead of you, as for 
example, at a traffic light or a parked vehi-
cle. Also, the system does not react to 
oncoming traffic, pedestrians or other type 
of potential traffic such as a rider on horse-
back. It is also possible that the system 
may not detect smaller moving objects 
such as motorcycles or bicycles. Be espe-
cially alert when encountering any of these 
situations as the system will neither auto-
matically brake, nor provide a warning to 
you. Also, be aware that every decrease in 
the distance setting allows your vehicle to 
come closer to a vehicle in front of you and 
requires a heightened amount of alert-
ness.< 
If while your vehicle is actively following a 
vehicle in front of you and the vehicle 
ahead speeds up or the lane ahead 
becomes clear, then your vehicle will 
accelerate to the speed you have selected. 
Be aware that changing to a clear, unob-
st r uc ted  lan e  w il l als o r esu lt  in  y ou r  v eh icle  
accelerating. 
Be certain to deactivate the system 
when you pull into an exit lane for a 
highway off-ramp.< 
Also, vehicles traveling in a staggered man-
ner on a highway may cause a delay in the 
system's reaction to a vehicle in front of you 
or may cause the system to react to a vehi-
cle actually in the lane next to you. Always be ready to take action or apply the brakes 
if necessary. 
Active cruise control can only decelerate 
the vehicle to approx. 20 mph/30 km/h. If 
the system reduces vehicle speed below 
20 mph/30 km/h or if DSC/ABS is engaged 
while driving, the system will automatically 
deactivate. 
Remember, the system cannot stop 
your vehicle. In addition, the system is 
deactivated whenever the driver applies 
the vehicle brakes, shifts the transmission 
from drive/D to neutral/N, or deactivates 
DSC. After any deactivation, the system will 
no longer automatically activate the vehicle 
brakes, which means the driver must inter-
vene and resume manual braking. You 
should then reactivate the system only 
when you are fully aware of the prior speed 
and distance settings.< 
Active cruise control may brake when you 
reduce the stored desired speed; however, 
the driver must constantly monitor traffic 
and intervene if necessary. 
When you switch off the engine or ignition, 
active cruise control is fully switched off, 
too, and any settings you have selected are 
canceled. 
Behavior in curves 
Because of the limited range of the system, 
it is possible that in curves or on the peaks 
and valleys of hilly roads, a vehicle ahead 
may be recognized late, or not at all. There-
fore, it is up to the driver to select a speed 
that is prudent in view of the curves and 
terrain of the roadway.  

Driving
80 In approaching a curve, it is possible that 
active cruise control would react briefly to 
a vehicle in the adjacent lane. In addition, 
the system can sense if your vehicle is in 
a curve and may not accelerate. If your 
vehicle decelerates in either case, you can 
choose to overcome the deceleration by 
briefly pressing the accelerator pedal. 
Driver interventions 
Remember actions by the driver 
always supersede and take priority 
over the system's automatic actions. Any-
time the driver presses down on the accel-
erator pedal, any automatic braking action 
by the system is interrupted until the pedal 
is fully released. After doing this, release 
the accelerator and the system again con-
trols your cruising speed and distance set-
ting. While driving with activated system, 
resting your foot on the accelerator pedal 
will cause the system not to brake even if 
necessary. Be certain that floormats or 
other objects on the vehicle floor do not 
interfere with movement of the accelerator 
pedal.<
While active cruise control is capable 
of braking your vehicle automatically 
when you approach a slower vehicle 
ahead, it is important to be aware that the 
ability of the system to apply the brakes is 
also limited, if you are driving down a steep 
grade or when you reduce your desired 
speed sharply. The system cannot stop 
your vehicle. It uses only a portion of brak-
ing system capacity and does not utilize the 
full capacity of the vehicle braking system. 
Therefore, the system cannot decrease 
your speed for large differences in speed 
between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead. Examples: during emergency brak-
ing, when you approach a vehicle traveling 
at a much lower speed than your own 
speed such as approaching a toll booth or 
when a much slower vehicle cuts in front of 
you at close range.< 
Whenever active cruise control 
recognizes a situation that 
requires driver braking because 
the system capacity has been 
reached or has been exceeded, 
the system alerts the driver by flashing this 
symbol in the instrument cluster and 
sounding a chime. 
Swerving vehicles 
When a vehicle moves from an adjacent 
lane into your lane, active cruise control will 
not recognize this vehicle until it is fully in 
your lane ahead of your vehicle. 
Malfunctions 
The build-up of foreign material, e. g., 
snow, ice, dirt, road debris, etc., can lead 
to reduced detection performance of active 
cruise control. You should check the sen-
sor under the front bumper and clean it as 
necessary prior to driving your vehicle. 
If the sensor becomes covered by foreign 
material or has a malfunction, it is possible 
that the sensor will no longer be able to 
detect vehicles in front of you. After the 
system recognizes that the sensor is no 
longer functional, a message is displayed in 
the Check Control and an acoustic signal is 
emitted, refer to page83. Also observe the 
additional information provided in the Con-
trol Center.