2009 Jeep Patriot Owner's Manual - Page 297

STARTING AND OPERATING 295 WARNING! Many factors, such as vehicle loading, road conditions and driving conditions, influence the chance that wheel lift or rollover may occur. ERM cannot prevent all wheel lift or rollovers, especially those that involve leaving the roadway or striking objects or other vehicles. Only a safe, attentive, and skillful driver can prevent accidents. The capabilities of an ERM-equipped vehicle must never be exploited in a reckless or dangerous manner which could jeopardize the user's safety or the safety of others. Hill Descent Control (HDC) - If Equipped This system maintains vehicle speed while descending hills during off-road driving situations. HDC will automatically apply the brakes to control downhill speed to between 4 mph (7 km/h) and 6 mph (9 km/h) depending on terrain. The system is activated by placing the vehicle in "Off-Road" mode and placing the shift lever in LOW or REVERSE. Refer to "Safe Off-Road Driving" under "Starting and Operating" in Section 5. When HDC is properly enabled, the Hill Decent Control light in the instrument cluster will be illuminated. HDC has the capability to sense terrain and will only activate when the vehicle is descending a hill. It will not activate on level ground. If desired, HDC can be fully deactivated by putting the vehicle into ESP "Full Off" mode. This is done by pressing and holding the ESP OFF button for five seconds. Refer to "Electronic Stability Program (ESP)" in this section of the manual. HDC operation can be overridden with brake application to slow the vehicle down below the HDC control speed. Conversely, if more speed is desired during HDC control, the accelerator pedal will increase vehicle speed like 5