BUICK LESABRE 1993 Owners Manual

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i -I
CANOEING SWIMMING
BROWN signs point out recreation areas or points of
historic or cultural interest.
Shape of Road Signs
The shape of the sign will tell you something, too.
I
~~
I An OCTAGONAL
ST0 P
(eight-sided) sign
means
STOP. It is
always red with white
letters.
7 A
A DIAMOND-shaped
sign is a warning of
something ahead
- for
example, a curve, steep
hill, soft shoulder, or a
narrow bridge.
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~ A TRIANGLE, pointed
1 downward, indicates
YIELD. It assigns the
right-of-way
to traffic
on certain approaches
to an intersection.
“t - ‘c
L1
-J
KEEP LEFT OR RIGHT TURN RIGHT THROUGH ONLY
A TRIANGULAR sign
also is used on
two-lane roads
to
indicate a NO
PASSING ZONE. This
sign will be on the left
side of the roadway. RECTANGULAR (square or oblong) signs show speed
limits, parking regulations, give directions, and such
information as distances to cities.

Symbols on Road Signs The basic message of many of these signs is in pictures
or graphic symbols.
A picture within a circle with a
diagonal line across it shows what
not to do.
I I
There are many international road signs in use today.
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Traffic Lights Some traffic lights also use red arrows to signify that
you must stop before turning on red.
REVERSIBLE
LANE ON
LANE
ROADWAY MULTI-
x
-.
-.
We’re
all familiar with traffic lights or stop lights. Often
green arrows are being used in the lights for improved
traffic control. On some multilane roads, green arrows
light up, indicating that traffic in one or more lanes can
move or make
a turn. Green arrows don’t mean “go no
matter what.” You’ll still need
to proceed with caution,
yielding
the right of way to pedestrians and sometimes
to other vehicles. Many city
roads and expressways, and even bridges, use
reversible-lane traffic control during rush hours.
A red X
light above a lane means no driving in that lane at that
time.
A green arrow means you may dfive in that lane.
Look for the signs posted to warn drivers what hours
and days these systems are
in effect.
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Pavement Markings
NO
PASSING
ZONE
Pavement markings add to traffic signs and signals.
They give information to drivers without taking
attention from the roadway. A solid yellow line on your
side
of the road or lane means “don’t cross.’’
Your Own Signals
Drivers signal to others, too. It’s not only more polite,
it’s safer to let other drivers know what
you are doing.
And in some places the law requires driver signals.
Turn and
lane change signals. Always signal when you
plan to turn or change lanes.
If necessary, you can use hand signals
out the window:
Left arm straight out for a left turn, down for slow or
about-to-stop, and
up for a right turn.
Slowinn down. If time allows, tap the brake pedal once
or twice in advance of slowing or stopping. This warns
the driver behind
you.
Disabled. Your four-way flashers signal that your
vehicle is disabled
or is a hazard. See “Hazard Warning
Flashers” in the Index.
Traffic Officer
The traffic police officer is also a source of important
information. The officer’s signals govern, no matter
what the traffic lights or other signs say.
The next section discusses some
of the road conditions
you may encounter.
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Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is: Drive
defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device in your
Buick: Buckle up. (See “Safety Belts” in the Index.)
Defensive driving really means “be ready for anything.”
On city streets, rural roads, or freeways, it means
“always expect the unexpected.”
Assume that pedestrians or other drivers are going to be
careless and make mistakes. Anticipate what they might
do. Be ready for their mistakes.
Expect children
to dash out from behind parked cars,
often followed by other children. Expect occupants in
parked cars
to open doors into traffic. Watch for
movement in parked cars
-- someone may be about to
open a door.
Expect other drivers to run stop signs when you are
on a
through street. Be ready
to brake if necessary as you go
through intersections. You may not have to use the
brake, but if you do, you will be ready.
If you’re driving through a shopping center parking lot
where there are well-marked lanes, directional arrows,
and designated parking areas, expect some drivers
to
ignore all these markings and dash straight toward one
part of the lot.
Pedestrians can be careless. Watch for them. In general,
you must give way to pedestrians even if you know you
have the right of way.
Rear-end collisions are about the most preventable of
accidents. Yet they are common. Allow enough
following distance. It’s the best defensive driving
maneuver, in both city and rural driving. You never
know when the vehicle in front
of you is going to brake
or turn suddenly.
Here’s a final bit
of information about defensive driving.
The most dangerous time for driving in the
U.S. is very
early
on Sunday morning. In fact, GM Research studies
show that the most and the least dangerous times for
driving, every week, fall on the same day. That day is
Sunday. The most dangerous time is Sunday from
3 a.m.
to
4 a.m. The safest time is Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11
a.m. Driving the same distance on a Sunday at 3 a.m.
isn’t just
a little more dangerous than it is at 10 a.m. It’s
about 134 times more dangerous!
That leads to the next section.

Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is
a national tragedy. It’s the number one contributor to the
highway death toll, claiming thousands of victims every
year. Alcohol takes away three things that anyone needs
to drive
a vehicle:
Judgment
0 Muscular Coordination
0 Vision
Police records show that half
of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol
- a driver, a
passenger or someone else, such as
a pedestrian, had
been drinking.
In most cases, these deaths are the result
of someone who was drinking and driving. Over
25,000
motor vehicle-related deaths occur each year because of
alcohol, and thousands of people are injured.
Just how much alcohol is too much if a person plans to
drive? Ideally, no one should drink alcohol and then drive. But if one does, then what’s “too much”? It can be
a lot less than many might
think. Although it depends on
each person and situation, here is some general
information
on the problem.
The Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)
of someone who is
drinking depends upon four things:
0 How much alcohol is in the drink.
0 The drinker’s body weight.
The amount of food that is consumed before and
during drinking.
consume the alcohol.
0 The length of time it has taken the drinker to
According to the American Medical Association, a
180-pound
(82 kg) person who drinks three 12-ounce
(355 ml) bottles of beer in an hour will end up with a
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BAC of about 0.06 percent. The person would reach the
same BAC by drinking three 4-ounce
(120 ml) glasses
of wine or three mixed drinks if each had
1-1/2 ounces
(45 ml) of a liquor like whiskey, gin or vodka.
It’s the amount
of alcohol that counts. For example, if
the same person drank three double martinis (3 ounces
or
90 ml of liquor each) within an hour, the person’s
BAC would be close to
0.12 percent. A person who
consumes food just before or during drinking will have a
slightly lower BAC level.
D
Rr -.
OF DRINKS (as in picture) 4
5 THAT WILL
IN THE TIME SHOWN
r IN A BAC OF .05%
I
3 HOURS
’ - ? HOURS
‘ 1 HOUR
100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240
BODY WEIGHT IN POUNDS
The law in most U.S. states sets the legal limit at a BAC
of
0.10 percent. In Canada the limit is 0.08 percent, and
in some other countries it’s lower than that. The BAC
will be over 0.10 percent after three to six drinks (in one
hour).
Of course, as we’ve seen, it depends on how
much alcohol
is in the drinks, and how quickly the
person drinks them.

But it’s very important to keep in mind that the ability to
drive is affected well below a BAC of
0.10 percent.
Research shows that the driving skills
of many people
are impaired at a BAC approaching
0.05 percent, and
that the effects are worse at night. All drivers are
impaired at BAC levels above
0.05 percent. Statistics
show that the chance
of being in an accident increases
sharply for drivers who have
a BAC of 0.05 percent or
above.
A driver with a BAC level of 0.06 percent (three
beers in one hour for
a 180-pound or 82 kg person) has
doubled his or her chance of having an accident. At a
BAC level of
0.10 percent, the chance of that driver
having an accident is six times greater; at a level
of 0.15
percent, the chances are twenty-five times greater! And,
the body takes about an hour
to rid itself of the alcohol
in one drink.
No amount of coffee or number of cold
showers will speed that up.
“I’ll
be careful” isn’t the right answer. What if there’s an
emergency, a need
to take sudden action, as when a
child darts into the street? A person with a higher BAC
might not be able
to react quickly enough to avoid the
collision. There’s
something else about drinking and driving that
many people don’t know. Medical research shows that
alcohol in
a person’s system can make crash injuries
worse. That’s especially true for brain, spinal cord and
heart injuries. That means that if anyone who has been
drinking
-- driver or passenger -- is in a crash, the
chance of being killed or permanently disabled is higher
than if that person had not been drinking. And we’ve
already seen that the chance
of a crash itself is higher for
drinking drivers.
A CAUTION:
Drinking and then driving is very dangerous.
Your reflexes, perceptions, and judgment
will be
affected by even a small amount of alcohol. You”
could have
a serious - or even fatal -- accident If
you drive after drinking. Please don’t drink and
drive
or ride with a driver who has been drinking.
Ride home in
a cab; or if you’re with a group,
designate
a driver who will not drink.
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Control of a Vehicle
You have three systems that make your vehicle go where
you want it to go. They are the brakes, the steering and
the accelerator. All three systems have to do their work
at the places where the tires meet the road.
Braking
Braking action involves perception time and reaction
time.
First,
you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That’s perception time. Then you have to bring up your
foot and do it. That’s reaction time.
Sometimes, as when you’re driving on snow or ice, it’s
easy
to ask more of those control systems than the tires
and road can provide. That means you can lose control
of your vehicle. Average
reaction time is about
3/4 of a second. But
that’s
only an average. It might be less with one driver
and as long as two or three seconds or more with
another. Age, physical condition, alertness,
coordination, and eyesight all play a part.
So do alcohol,
drugs and frustration. But even in
3/4 of a second, a
vehicle moving at
60 mph (100 km/h) travels 66 feet (20
m). That could be a lot of distance in an emergency, so
keeping enough space between your vehicle and others
is important.
And,
of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly
with the surface
of the road (whether it’s pavement or
gravel); the condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire
tread; and the condition
of your brakes.
Most drivers treat their brakes with care. Some,
however, overwork the braking system with poor
driving habits.