The next driver that I meet who actually likes their collision mitigation system (CMS) will be the first. When I got my first system, I wanted it removed from my truck. I flew from Milwaukee to Ontario, CA to pick up the truck. Opening the door to the dealership, I dropped my phone and cracked the screen. The truck was low on diesel and DEF. At the truck stop down the street, I was going to put enough in to get me out of CA. They did not have DEF at the pump. I went into the store and bought a 2 gallon container with my credit card. Suspecting fraud, the card was shut down went I tried to pay for my diesel. GREAT! Now, I was low on cash and 2,000 miles from home and my card didn't work.

Traffic was tight heading out of Ontario. When I finally finally got the cruise set, a car came down the ramp in front of me at about 35 MPH. The system engaged and hit the breaks. It surprised me. I could see that the car would accelerate away from me and the system engaged for a reason that I wouldn't have. By the time that I got home, I wanted the system ripped out of my truck. That wasn't an option. The system was the enemy and I had to beat it.

Drivers see traffic as a video and anticipate what is going to happen The system can't predict. It sees snapshots and reacts. The enemy system has weaknesses. I can out anticipate it. That was my approach. Don't let the system engage.

The system sees 3.5 seconds ahead. React before you reach that 3.5 second area, and the system will not engage. My favorite way to trick the system is to cancel cruise. One of my pet peeves is drivers that passes you and cuts in too soon. I usually set my cruise at 63 MPH. Inevitably, that driver with the 63.1 MPH truck will “need” to pass me and then cut over 20 feet in front of me. The system would kick in. I hated that. I learned to cancel cruise just before the passing truck came over. Then hit resume cruise when they got about 100 feet out. It has become so automatic, that I do it without thinking about it.

One of the complaints that I hear is the beeping in urban traffic. I have figured out that the beeping occurs within one second of following distance, and you are gaining on the vehicle in front of you. Slow down and the beeping will stop. Maybe I should not be gaining on a vehicle with less than a second of following distance. I stopped doing that and the system stopped beeping.

The best way to win the battle with your CMS is to out anticipate it. Understand how it works. It detects metal objects up to 3.5 seconds straight ahead of itself. Even in a curve it sees straight ahead. It activates much faster in cruise control. When you get into traffic, get out of cruise control. You will probably never grow to like your CMS, but eventually you can render it irrelevant. Like a safety net, the idea is not to use it.

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Jeff Clark

Jeff Clark of Kewaunee, WI has been driving a truck for 24 years. He has been an owner operator for 11 years.

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