2008 Mercedes S-Class Owner's Manual - Page 80

Safety and Security Driving safety systems To maintain the proper distance to the vehicle 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 following 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 vehicles at road speeds of up to approximately 40 mph (70 km/h). Warning! Warning! G An intermittent warning sounds and the distance 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 indicate that PRE-SAFE® Brake will not be capable 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 situation. Do not wait for the operation of the warning signal to intercede with your own braking, as that will result in potentially dangerous emergency braking which will not always result in an impact being avoided. Tailgating increases the risk of an accident. G If you do not receive visual or acoustic warning signals, PRE-SAFE® Brake has either not recognized the collision risk, has been deactivated or is malfunctioning. Apply the brakes yourself to avoid a collision. 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 display. 79