144 Intelligent technology
Intelligent technology
Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your veh icle is not equipped with an Event Da
ta Recorde r (EDR), ins talled by some manu
facture rs fo r the express p urpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or cras h
event . EDR's are sometimes ca lled "crash re
corders".
Some state laws restr ict the retr ieval or down
loading of data stored by EDR's that were in
stalled in a vehicle for the express purpose of retrieving data after an accident or crash
event without the owner's consent.
A ltho ugh yo ur vehicle is not equ ipped wit h an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron
ic control modules for various v ehicle systems
such as, for examp le, eng ine f unction, em is
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
sa fety belt s.
These electronic contro l modules also record
vehicle-re lated data during norma l vehicle op
erat ion for diagnostic and repa ir purposes.
T he recording capacity of the electronic con
trol modules is limited to data (no sound is re
corded) and only a small amount of data is ac
tually recorded ove r a ve ry limited pe riod of
time and stored when a sys tem faul t or o ther
cond ition is sensed by a cont ro l u nit. Some of
the data then stored may re late to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condit ion. Stored data can only
be read and downloaded w ith special equip
ment .
Electronic Stabilization
Control (ESC)
Description
ESC helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidd ing and loss of ve hicle control. It works
only when the eng ine is running . ESC detects certain difficult driving situat
ions, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
o ut of control and he lps you to get the veh icle
back under control by se lectively braking the
whee ls, and/or reducing eng ine power and
providing steer ing ass istance to he lp hold the
vehicle o n the dr iver's intended course . T he in
dicator light
G) in the inst rument cluster
blinks when ESC is ta king action to help yo u
control the veh icle.
ESC has limitations.
It is importa nt to remem
ber that ESC cannot overcome the laws of
physics. It wi ll not always be able to help out
under a ll cond it ions you may come up aga inst.
F or example, ESC may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
s u dden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface . When there is a section of
dry road that is sudden ly covered w ith water,
s lush or snow, ESC cannot perform the same
way it wou ld on the dry surface . If the ve hicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in
stead of the road surface), ESC will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle because con
tact with the pavement has been in terrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered .
D uring fast cornering, particularly on winding
roads, ESC cannot always deal as effectively
with difficult driving situations as at lower
speeds.
Always adjust your speed and driving style to road , traffic and weather conditions. ESC can
not override the vehicle's physical limits, in
crease the available tract ion, or keep a ve hicle
on the road if road departure is a result of
driver inattent ion . Instead, ESC imp roves the
poss ib ility of keep ing the veh icle under con
t rol and on the road during extreme maneu
vers by using the d river 's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle go ing in t he i nte nded di
rection . If you are t raveling at a speed tha t
ca uses you to run off the road before ESC can
provide any assistance, you may not experi
ence the benefits of ESC.
ESC includes and/o r works togethe r with the
anti- lock b rake system (ABS), brake assist sys-
tem and anti-slip reg ulation (ASR). ESC is .,..
