Mercedes-Benz 2008 S550 4MATIC Automobile User Manual


 
79
Safety and Security
Driving safety systems
To maintain the proper distance to the ve-
hicle in front of you and thus prevent a
rear-end collision, you must apply the
brakes yourself.
̈ Immediately brake the vehicle to avoid
a collision.
Under no circumstances should the
driver await the intermittent warning
sound before braking. See the follow-
ing warning note.
The intermittent warning sound ceases
and the distance warning lamp l
goes out when the necessary distance
to the vehicle ahead is again
established.
PRE-SAFE
®
Brake can react to stationary
obstacles such as standing or parked vehi-
cles at road speeds of up to approximately
40 mph (70 km/h).
̈ Activating and deactivating: Activate
or deactivate PRE-SAFE
®
Brake using
the instrument cluster control system
(
page 279).
After the function has been activated,
indicator : appears on the
left-hand side of the multifunction dis-
play.
Warning! G
An intermittent warning sounds and the dis-
tance warning lamp l in the instrument
cluster is illuminated if PRE-SAFE
®
Brake
calculates that the distance to the vehicle
ahead and your vehicle’s current speed indi-
cate that PRE-SAFE
®
Brake will not be capa-
ble of slowing the vehicle sufficiently to
maintain the preset following distance,
which creates a danger of a collision.
Immediately brake your vehicle to increase
the distance between your vehicle and the
vehicle driving in front of you. The warning
sound is intended as a final caution that you
have not interceded with your own braking
inputs to avoid a potentially dangerous situ-
ation. Do not wait for the operation of the
warning signal to intercede with your own
braking, as that will result in potentially dan-
gerous emergency braking which will not al-
ways result in an impact being avoided.
Tailgating increases the risk of an accident.
Warning! G
If you do not receive visual or acoustic warn-
ing signals, PRE-SAFE
®
Brake has either not
recognized the collision risk, has been deac-
tivated or is malfunctioning. Apply the
brakes yourself to avoid a collision.