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2014 FREIGHTLINER M2 — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

crash · 1176975 · 2015-04-22

Vehicle

Make
FREIGHTLINER
Model
M2
Year
2014
Manufacturer
Daimler Trucks North America, LLC
Component
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Speed
45 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
No
Crash
Yes
Police report
No
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

I HAVE TWO 'GRIPES' ABOUT CRUISE CONTROL: 1. THE LACK OF A 'CRASH SWITCH' TO DUMP THE CRUISE CONTROL AGGRAVATED AN ACCIDENT I RECENTLY HAD IN A TRUCK. I REMEMBER YEARS AGO INSTALLING CC IN A CAR, AND THERE WAS A MERCURY SWITCH TO DUMP THE CRUISE CONTROL IF THE CAR WERE IN AN ACCIDENT. OCCASIONALLY, THERE WAS A FALSE DUMP ON A BUMP, BUT IT JUST SERVED TO REMIND ME THE SAFETY FEATURE WAS WORKING! 2. IN AN AUTO WITH AUTOMATIC AND SELECTIVE SPORT SHIFT, THE CRUISE CONTROL DOESN'T DISENGAGE WHEN THE SHIFT LEVER IS MOVED. IN A MANUAL CAR, THE CC WOULD BE DISENGAGED WHEN DEPRESSING THE CLUTCH. I HAVE BEEN SURPRISED WHEN DOWNSHIFTING FOR A HIGHWAY EXIT, TO FIND THE CAR HOLDING SPEED AT THE REDUCED GEAR! AT 88FPS (30 YARDS/SEC) THIS DOESN'T LEAVE MUCH TIME TO RECOGNIZE THE PROBLEM AND DISENGAGE THE CC MANUALLY OR BY A TAP ON THE BRAKES BEFORE ARRIVING AT THE EXIT WITH EXCESS SPEED. I RELY ON CC TO HELP ME AVOID SPEEDING AND TO ACCLIMATE ME TO A CHANGE IN SPEED LIMIT. THE TWO GRIPES ABOVE ARE REAL, AND THEY ARE PERVASIVE IN THE AUTOMOTIVE/TRUCK INDUSTRY! HOW ABOUT A FIX? *TR

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10712330
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown