My wife and I have been driving the CX-5 for about 2 years. Neither of us have had the SCBS kick in and always wondered if/how it would work. I've been driving for about 25 years now and have never had an accident so, to me, it was one of those nice-to-have-but-I'll-never-need-it things-- until...
We were driving to dinner last night. I'm driving on a surface street and trying to figure out where a parking lot is that I can use (tough town for parking). It's my first time there so (like an idiot) I'm looking at the GPS screen trying to figure out the route and read the street name that I want to turn onto. I'm driving maybe 30 mph. Unbeknownst to this idiot who is looking at the screen, the cars in front of me come to an abrupt stop in traffic. My wife, who is not a back seat driver, realizes that I'm not slowing and starts calling my name repeatedly to get my attention. I look up and see the car in front of me at a dead stop. I quickly realize one thing... There is no effing way I can stop in time.
I crush the brake pedal as hard as I can (my calf muscle actually felt a bit of charlie-horse like pain I was pushing so hard). We're braking hard but I can tell that I'm going to be about a foot or two short on stopping distance. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I'm going to hit the car.
With about 6-8 feet to go I feel the brake pedal give under my foot. Even though I was pushing as hard as I could it suddenly dropped what felt like another 2-3 inches and at the same time the CX's braking effort seemed to increase dramatically.
We came to a stop inches from the stopped car in front of us. No contact. I couldn't believe it. I looked down and saw the SCBS indicator illuminated on the dashboard.
I looked at my wife and said, "well-- tech package just paid for itself!" Seriously. Felt like the best money I ever spent.
So that's it. Before last night I could have taken or left SCBS and never really thought much about it. Now I can confidently say that it is the only reason that I didn't have my first accident and smash up my wife's favorite car.
So while I deserved to get in an accident for being an idiot and allowing myself to be distracted, it's great to know that the technology that has been quietly sitting there for 2 years worked exactly as designed when it was needed most. I'm now a believer.
We were driving to dinner last night. I'm driving on a surface street and trying to figure out where a parking lot is that I can use (tough town for parking). It's my first time there so (like an idiot) I'm looking at the GPS screen trying to figure out the route and read the street name that I want to turn onto. I'm driving maybe 30 mph. Unbeknownst to this idiot who is looking at the screen, the cars in front of me come to an abrupt stop in traffic. My wife, who is not a back seat driver, realizes that I'm not slowing and starts calling my name repeatedly to get my attention. I look up and see the car in front of me at a dead stop. I quickly realize one thing... There is no effing way I can stop in time.
I crush the brake pedal as hard as I can (my calf muscle actually felt a bit of charlie-horse like pain I was pushing so hard). We're braking hard but I can tell that I'm going to be about a foot or two short on stopping distance. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I'm going to hit the car.
With about 6-8 feet to go I feel the brake pedal give under my foot. Even though I was pushing as hard as I could it suddenly dropped what felt like another 2-3 inches and at the same time the CX's braking effort seemed to increase dramatically.
We came to a stop inches from the stopped car in front of us. No contact. I couldn't believe it. I looked down and saw the SCBS indicator illuminated on the dashboard.
I looked at my wife and said, "well-- tech package just paid for itself!" Seriously. Felt like the best money I ever spent.
So that's it. Before last night I could have taken or left SCBS and never really thought much about it. Now I can confidently say that it is the only reason that I didn't have my first accident and smash up my wife's favorite car.
So while I deserved to get in an accident for being an idiot and allowing myself to be distracted, it's great to know that the technology that has been quietly sitting there for 2 years worked exactly as designed when it was needed most. I'm now a believer.