BUICK REGAL 1993 Owners Manual

the accelerator pedal as soon as you feel the vehicle start
to slide. Quickly steer the way you want the vehicle to
go. If you start steering quickly enough, your vehicle
will straighten
out. As it does, straighten the front
wheels.
Of course, traction is reduced when water, snow, ice,
gravel, or other material is on the road. For safety, you’ll
want to slow down and adjust your driving to these
conditions.
It is important to slow down on slippery
surfaces because stopping distance will be longer and
vehicle control more limited.
While driving on a surface with reduced traction, try
your best to avoid sudden steering, acceleration, or
braking (including engine braking
by shifting to a lower
gear). Any sudden changes could cause the tires to slide.
You may not realize the surface is slippery until your
vehicle is skidding. Learn to recognize warning clues
--
such as enough water, ice or packed snow on the road to
make a “mirrored surface” -- and slow down when you
have any doubt.
If you have the anti-lock braking system, remember: It
helps avoid only the braking skid. If you do not have
anti-lock, then in a braking skid (where the wheels are
no longer rolling), release enough pressure on the brakes
to get the wheels rolling again. This restores steering
control. Push the brake pedal down steadily when you have
to stop suddenly.
As long as the wheels are rolling,
you will have steering control. Steer the way you want
to go.
Driving at Night
Night driving is more dangerous than day driving. One
reason is that some drivers are likely
to be impaired --
by alcohol or drugs, with night vision problems, or by
fatigue.
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Here are some tips on night driving.
0 Drive defensively. Remember, this is the most
dangerous time.
0 Don’t drink and drive. (See “Drunken Driving” in
the Index for more on this problem.)
0 Adjust your inside rearview mirror to reduce the
glare from headlights behind
you.
Since you can’t see as well, you may need to slow
down and keep more space between
you and other
vehicles. It’s hard
to tell how fast the vehicle ahead
is going just by looking at its taillights.
0 Slow down, especially on higher speed roads. Your
headlights can light up
only so much road ahead.
In remote areas, watch for animals.
0 If you’re tired, pull off the road in a safe place and
rest.
Night Vision
No one can see as well at night as in the daytime. But as
we get older these differences increase.
A 50-year-old
driver may require at least twice as much light
to see the
same thing at night as a 20-year-old. What
you do in the daytime can also affect your night
vision. For example, if you spend the day
in bright
sunshine
you are wise to wear sunglasses. Your eyes will
have less trouble adjusting to night.
But
if you’re driving, don’t wear sunglasses at night.
They may cut down on glare from headlights, but they
also make a lot of things invisible that should remain
visible
- such as parked cars, obstacles, pedestrians, or
even trains blocking railway crossings.
You may want to
put
on your sunglasses after you have pulled into a
brightly-lighted service or refreshment area. Eyes
shielded from that glare may adjust more quickly to
darkness back on the road. But be sure
to remove your
sunglasses before you leave the service area.
You can be temporarily blinded by approaching lights. It
can take a second or two, or even several seconds, for
your
eyes to readjust to the dark. When you are faced
with severe glare (as from a driver who doesn’t lower
the high beams, or a vehicle with misaimed headlights),
slow down a little. Avoid staring directly into
the
approaching lights. If there is a line of opposing traffic,
make occasional glances over the line of headlights
to
make certain that one of the vehicles isn’t starting to
move into your lane. Once you are past the bright lights,
give your eyes time to readjust before resuming speed.
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High Beams
If the vehicle approaching you has its high beams on,
signal by flicking yours
to high and then back to low
beam. This is the usual signal to lower the headlight
beams. If the other driver still doesn’t lower the beams,
resist the temptation to put your high beams on. This
only makes two half-blinded drivers.
On a freeway, use your high beams only in remote areas
where you won’t impair approaching drivers. In some
places, like cities, using high beams is illegal.
When
you follow another vehicle on a freeway or
highway, use low beams. True, most vehicles now have
day-night mirrors that enable the driver
to reduce glare.
But outside mirrors are not
of this type and high beams
from behind can bother the driver ahead.
A Few More Night Driving Suggestions
Keep your windshield and all the glass on your vehicle
clean
-- inside and out. Glare at night is made much
worse by dirt on the glass. Even the inside of the glass
can build up a film caused by dust. Tobacco smoke also
makes inside glass surfaces very filmy and can be
a
vision hazard if it’s left there.
Dirty glass makes lights dazzle and flash more than
clean glass would, making the pupils of your eyes
contract repeatedly.
You might even want to keep a cloth
and some glass cleaner in your vehicle if you need
to
clean your glass frequently.
Remember that your headlights light up far less of a
roadway when you are in a turn or curve.
Keep your eyes moving; that way, it’s easier to pick out
dimly lighted objects.
Just as your headlights should be checked regularly for
proper aim,
so should your eyes be examined regularly.
Some drivers suffer from night blindness
-- the inability
to see in dim light
-- and aren’t even aware of it.
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Driving in the Rain Rain and wet roads can mean driving trouble. On a wet
road
you can’t stop, .accelerate or turn as well because
your tire-to-road traction isn’t as good as on dry roads.
And, if your tires don’t have much tread left, you’ll get
even less traction.
It’s always wise to go slower and be cautious if rain
starts
to fall while you are driving. The surface may get
wet suddenly when your reflexes are tuned for driving
on dry pavement.
The heavier the rain, the harder it is to see. Even if your
windshield wiper blades are in good shape, a heavy rain
can make
it harder to see road signs and traffic signals,
pavement markings, the edge of the road, and even
people walking. Road spray
can often be worse for
vision than rain, especially if it comes from a dirty road.
So it is wise to keep your wiping equipment in good
shape and keep your windshield washer tank filled.
Replace your windshield wiper inserts when
they show
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signs of streaking or missing areas on the windshield, or
when strips
of rubber start to separate from the inserts.
Driving too fast through large water puddles or even
going through some car washes can cause problems,
too.
The water may affect your brakes. Try to avoid puddles.
But if
you can’t, try to slow down before you hit them.
A CAUTION:
Wet brakes can cause accidents. They won’t
work well in a quick stop and may cause pulling
to one side. You could lose control
of the vehicle.
After driving through a large puddle
of water or a
car wash, apply your brake pedal lightly until
your brakes work normally.
Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning is dangerous. So much water can build up
under your tires that they can actually ride on the water.
This can happen if the road
is wet enough and you’re
going fast enough. When your vehicle is hydroplaning,
it has little or no contact with the road.
You might not be aware of hydroplaning. You could
drive along for some time without realizing your tires
aren’t in constant contact with the road. You could find
out the hard way: when you have to slow, turn, move out
to pass -- or if you get hit by a gust of wind. You could
suddenly find yourself out
of control.
Hydroplaning doesn’t happen often. But it can if your
tires haven’t much tread or if the pressure in one or
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more is low. It can happen if a lot of water is standing
on the road. If you can see reflections from trees,
telephone poles, or other vehicles, and raindrops
“dimple” the water’s surface, there could be
hydroplaning.
Hydroplaning usually happens at higher speeds. There
just isn’t a hard and fast rule about hydroplaning. The
best advice is to slow down when it is raining, and be
careful.
Some Other Rainy Weather Tips
a
a
0
0
Turn on your headlights -- not just your parking
lights
-- to help make you more visible to others.
Look for hard-to-see vehicles coming from behind.
You may want
to use your headlights even in
daytime if it’s raining hard.
Besides slowing down, allow some extra following
distance. And be especially careful when
you pass
another vehicle. Allow yourself more clear room
ahead, and be prepared
to have your view restricted
by road spray. If the road spray is
so heavy you are
actually blinded, drop back. Don’t pass until
conditions improve. Going more slowly is better
than having an accident.
Use your defogger if it helps.
0 Have good tires with proper tread depth. (See
“Tires” in the Index.)
Driving in Fog, Mist and Haze
Fog can occur with high humidity or heavy frost. It can
be
so mild that you can see through it for several
hundred feet (meters).
Or it might be so thick that you
can see only a few feet (meters) ahead.
It may come
suddenly to an otherwise clear road. And
it can be a
maj or hazard.
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When you drive into a fog patch, your visibility will be
reduced quickly. The biggest dangers are striking the
vehicle ahead or being struck by the one behind. Try to
“read” the fog density down the road. If the vehicle
ahead starts to become less clear or, at night, if the
taillights are harder to see, the fog is probably
thickening. Slow down to give traffic behind
you a
chance to slow down. Everybody then has a better
chance to avoid hitting the vehicle ahead.
A patch of dense fog may extend only for a few feet
(meters) or for miles (kilometers); you can’t really tell
while you’re
in it. You can only treat the situation with
extreme care.
One common fog condition
-- sometimes called mist or
ground fog
-- can happen in weather that seems perfect,
especially at night or in the early morning in valley and
low, marshy areas.
You can be suddenly enveloped in
thick, wet haze that may even coat your windshield. You
can often spot these fog patches or mist layers with your
headlights. But sometimes they can be waiting for
you
as you come over a hill or dip into a shallow valley.
Start your windshield wipers and washer, to help clear
accumulated road dirt. Slow down carefully.
Tips on Driving in Fog
If you get caught in fog, turn your headlights on low
beam, even in daytime. You’ll see
-- and be seen --
better. Use your fog lights if your vehicle has them.
Don’t use your high beams. The light will bounce
off
the water droplets that make up fog and reflect back at
you.
Use your defogger. In high humidity, even a light
buildup of moisture on the inside of the glass will cut
down on your already limited visibility. Run your
windshield wipers and washer occasionally. Moisture
can build up on the outside glass, and what seems to be
fog may actually be moisture on the outside of your
windshield.
Treat dense fog as an emergency. Try to find
a place to
pull off the road. Of course
you want to respect
another’s property, but
you might need to put something
between
you and moving vehicles -- space, trees,
telephone poles, a private driveway, anything that
removes you from other traffic.
If visibility is near zero and
you must stop but are
unsure whether
you are away from the road, turn your
lights on, start your hazard warning flashers, and sound
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your horn at intervals or when you hear approaching
traffic.
Pass other vehicles in fog only if you can see far enough
ahead to pass safely. Even then, be prepared to delay
your pass
if you suspect the fog is worse up ahead. If
other vehicles try
to pass you, make it easy for them.
City Driving
One of the biggest problems with city streets is the
amount of traffic on them. You’ll want to watch out for
what the other drivers are doing and pay attention to
traffic signals.
Here are ways to increase your safety in city driving:
0 Know the best way to get to where you are going.
Try not to drive around trying to pick out a familiar
street or landmark. Get a city map and plan your trip
into an unknown part
of the city just as you would
for a cross-country trip.
large cities. You’ll save time and energy. (See the
next section, “Freeway Driving.”)
i 0 Try to use the freeways that rim and crisscross most
I Treat a green light as a warning signal. A traffic light
is there because the corner is busy enough
to need it.
When a light turns green, and
just before you start to
move, check both ways for vehicles that have not
cleared the intersection or may be running the red
light.
0 Obey all posted speed limits. But remember that they
are for ideal road, weather and visibility conditions.
You may need to drive below the posted limit in bad
weather or when visibility is especially poor.
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Pull to the right (with care) and stop clear or
intersections when you see or hear emergency
vehicles.
Freeway Driving
Mile for mile, freeways (also called thruways,
parkways, expressways, turnpikes, or superhighways)
are the safest of all roads. But they have their own
special rules. The
most important advice on freeway driving is: Keep
up with traffic and keep to the right. Drive at the same
speed most of the other drivers are driving. Too-fast or
too-slow driving breaks a smooth traffic flow. Treat the
left lane on a freeway as a passing lane.
Entering the Freeway
At the entrance there is usually a ramp that leads to the
freeway.
If you have a clear view of the freeway as you
drive along the entrance ramp, you should begin to
check traffic. Try to determine where you expect to
blend with the flow. If traffic is light, you may have no
problem. But if it is heavy, find a gap as
you move along
the entering lane and time your approach. Try to merge
into the gap at close to the prevailing speed. Switch on
your turn signal, check your rearview mirrors as you
move along, and glance over your shoulder as often as
necessary. Try to blend smoothly with the traffic flow.
Driving on the Freeway
Once you are on the freeway, adjust your speed to the
posted limit or to the prevailing rate if it's slower. Stay
in the right lane
unless you want to pass. If you are on a
two-lane freeway, treat the right lane as the slow lane
and the left lane as the passing lane.
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If you are on a three-lane freeway, treat the right lane as
the slower-speed through lane, the middle lane
as the
higher-speed through lane, and the left lane as the
passing lane.
Before changing lanes, check your rearview mirrors.
Then use your turn signal.
Just before you leave the lane, glance quickly over your
shoulder
to make sure there isn’t another vehicle in your
“blind” spot.
If you are moving from an outside to a center lane on a
freeway having more than two lanes, make sure another
vehicle isn’t about to move into the same spot. Look at
the vehicles two lanes over and watch for telltale signs:
turn signals flashing, an increase in speed, or moving
toward the edge
of the lane. Be prepared to delay your
move.
Once
you are moving on the freeway, make certain you
allow a reasonable following distance. Expect
to move
slightly slower at night.
Leaving the Freeway
When you want to leave the freeway, move to the proper
lane well in advance. Dashing across lanes at the last
minute is dangerous.
If you miss your exit do not, under any
circumstances, stop and back up. Drive
on to the
next exit.
At each exit point is a deceleration lane. Ideally it
should be long enough for
you to enter it at freeway
speed (after signaling, of course) and then do your
braking before moving onto the exit ramp.
Unfortunately, not all deceleration lanes are long enough
-- some are too short for all the braking. Decide when to
start braking. If you must brake
on the through lane, and
if there is traffic close behind you, you can allow
a little
extra time and flash your brake lights (in addition to
your turn signal) as extra warning that you are about to
slow down and exit.
The
exit ramp can be curved, sometimes quite sharply.
The exit speed is usually posted. Reduce your speed
according to your speedometer, not to your sense
of
motion. After driving for any distance at higher speeds,
you may tend to think you are going slower than you
actually are. For example,
40 mph (65 km/h) might
seem like
only 20 mph (30 km/h). Obviously, this could
lead
to serious trouble on a ramp designed for 20 mph
(30 km/h)!
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