CADILLAC ELDORADO 1993 10.G Owners Manual

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If other cars are lined up to pass a slow vehicle, wait your turn. But
take care that someone isn’t trying to pass you as you pull out to pass
the slow vehicle. Remember to glance over your shoulder and check
the blind spot.
Check your mirrors
, glance over your shoulder, and start your left
lane change signal before moving out
of the right lane to pass. When
you are far enough ahead
of the passed vehicle to see its front in your
inside mirror, activate your right lane change signal and move back
into the right lane. (Remember that your right outside mirror is
convex. The vehicle
you just passed may seem to be farther away from
you than it really is.)
Try not to pass more than one vehicle at a time on two-lane roads.
Reconsider before passing the
next vehicle.
Don’t overtake
a slowly moving vehicle too rapidly. Even though the
brake lights are not flashing, it may be slowing down or starting to
turn.
If you’re being passed, make it easy for the following driver to get
ahead of you. Perhaps you can ease a little to the right.
LOSS OF CONTROL
Let’s review what driving experts say about what happens when the three
control systems (brakes, steering and acceleration) don’t have enough
friction where the tires meet the road to do what
the driver has asked.
In any emergency, don’t give up. Keep trying to steer and constantly seek
an escape route or area
of less danger.
Skidding
In a skid, a driver can lose control of the vehicle. Defensive drivers avoid
most skids by taking reasonable care suited to existing conditions, and
by
not “overdriving” those conditions. But skids are always possible.
The three types
of skids correspond to your Cadillac’s three control
systems. In the braking skid your wheels aren’t rolling. In the steering or
cornering skid, too much speed
or steering in a curve causes tires to slip
and
lose cornering force. And in the acceleration skid too much throttle
causes the driving wheels to spin.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine A cornering skid and an acceleration skid are best handled by easing your
foot
off the accelerator pedal.
If your vehicle starts to slide (as when you turn a corner on a wet, snow-
or ice-covered road), ease your foot off 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.
Remember: Any anti-lock braking system
(ABS) helps avoid only the
braking skid. Steer the way you want to go.
DIWTNG AT NIGHT
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
Here are some tips on night driving.
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Drive defensively. Remember, this is the most dangerous time.
Don’t drink and drive. (See “Drunken Driving” in the Index for more
on this problem.)
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.
Slow down, especially on higher speed roads. Your headlights can light
up only
so much road ahead.
In remote areas, watch
for animals.
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
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
DRn/lNG 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 makc 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 signs of streaking or missing areas on the windshield,
or
when strips of rubber start to separate from the inserts.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine I
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,
apyiX7 your brake pedal lightly until yol’p 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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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 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
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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.
Have good tires with proper tread depth. (See “Tires” in the Index.)
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine DMNG 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 major hazard.
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.
une 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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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: (en In
daytime. You’ll see -- and be seen -- better. Use your fog lignts 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 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 preparcd 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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine CITYDRWTNG
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:
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.
Try to use the freeways that rim and crisscross most large cities. You’ll
save time and energy. (See the next section, “Freeway Driving.”)
0 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.
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