stop start BUICK LESABRE 1993 User Guide

FWD
Press and hold FWD to advance quickly within a track.
Release it to resume playing. Watch
the graphic display
to stop at a specific passage.
PREV
Press PREV to hear the previous track. Press it again to
move back one more track.
NEXT
Press NEXT to hear the next track instead of waiting
until the present track is finished. If you hold this
button, or press
it more than once, the disc will advance
further.
STFL
Press ST/PL (Stop/Play) and the disc will stop hd the
radio will play. Press
STPL again to restart the disc at
the point where it stopped.
Press the PWR button or
turn the ignition key off to stop
the disc player. The disc stays
in the player and will
resahe playing at the point where it stopped.
EJECT
Press EJCT, the disc will eject and the radio will play.
The disc will start at track
1 when you reinsert it.
As a feature to protect the disc, if you turn off the
ignition with the disc partway out of the slot (after
eject), it will be drawn back into the player
in about 30
seconds.
The disc will play at track
1 when the radio system is
turned on again.
Anti-Theft Feature
Delco-Loc I1 is a security feature for the compact disc
player. It can be used or ignored. If ignored, the system
plays normally. If it is used, your player won’t be usable
if it’s ever stolen, because it won’t turn on.
The instructions below
tell you how to enter your
personal secret code into the system.
If your car loses
battery power for any reason, you must unlock the
system with the secret code again before the system will
turn on.
Be sure to read through the entire procedure and become
familiar with the appropriate buttons and knobs before
itarting.
k.
139

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.

0 If your engine ever stops while you’re driving, brake
normally but don’t pump your brakes.
If you do, the
pedal may get harder to push down.
If your engine
stops, you will still have some power brake assist.
But
you will use it when you brake. Once the power assist
is used up, it may take longer to stop and the brake
pedal will be harder to push.
Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
Your Buick has an advanced electronic braking system
that will help prevent skidding.
This light
on the instrument panel will go on when you
start your vehicle.
See “Anti-lock Brake System Warning Light”
in the
Index.
@
ANTI
LOCK
‘1 ”. j ’ ;I
- -’ y- ..-
a,
rn
e,
Here’s how anti-lock works. Let’s say the road is wet.
You’re. driving safely. Suddenly an animal jumps
out in
front
of you.
You slam on the brakes. Here’s what happens with ABS.
A computer senses that wheels are slowing down. The
computer separately works the brakes at each front
wheel and at the rear wheels.
The anti-lock system can change the brake pressure
faster than any driver could. The computer
is
programmed to make the most of available tire and road
conditions.
160

I
You can steer around the obstacle while braking hard.
As you brake, your computer keeps receiving updates on
wheel speed and controls braking pressure accordingly.
/A CAUTION:
1
1
Anti-lock doesn’t change the time you need to
get your foot up to the brake pedal. If you get too
close
to the vehicle in front of you, you won’t
have time to apply your brakes
if that vehicle
suddenly slows or stops. Always leave enough
room up ahead
to stop, even though you have
anti-lock brakes.
To Use Anti-Lock:
Don’t pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal down
and let anti-lock work for
you.
When you start your vehicle and begin to drive away,
you may hear a momentary motor or clicking noise..And
you may even notice that your brake pedal moves a little
while this
is going on. This is the ABS system testing
itself.
You may also hear this during a hard stop.

So here are some tips for passing:
0
0
0
0
“Drive ahead.” Look down the road, to the sides, and
to crossroads for situations that might affect your
passing patterns.
If you have any doubt whatsoever
about making a successful pass, wait for a better
time.
Watch for traffic signs, pavement markings, and
lines. If
you can see a sign up ahead that might
indicate a turn or an intersection, delay your pass.
A
broken center line usually indicates it’s all right to
pass (providing the road ahead is clear). Never cross
a solid line on your side
of the lane or a double solid
line, even
if the road seems empty of approaching
traffic.
If you suspect that the driver of the vehicle you want
to pass isn’t aware
of your presence, tap the horn a
couple of times before passing.
Do not get too close to the vehicle you want to pass
while you’re awaiting an opportunity. For one thing,
following
too closely reduces your area of vision,
especially if you’re following a larger vehicle. Also,
you won’t have adequate space if the vehicle ahead
suddenly slows or stops. Keep back a reasonable
distance.
When it looks like a chance to pass is coming up,
start to accelerate but stay in the right lane and don’t
get too close. Time your move
so you will be
increasing speed as the time comes to move into the
other lane.
If the way is clear to pass, you will have a
“running start” that more than makes up for the
distance you would lose by dropping back. And if
something happens to cause
you to cancel your pass,
you need only slow down and drop back again and
wait for another opportunity.
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.)
167

0 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.
following driver to get ahead of you. Perhaps
you
can ease a little to the right.
If you’re being passed, make it easy for the
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 “over-
driving” those conditions. But skids are always possible. The
three types of skids correspond
to your Buick‘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.
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 comer
on a wet, snow-or icexovered road), ease your foot off
the accelerator pedal as soon as your 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 tires to slide.
You may
not realize the surface is slippery until your
168

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.
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.
171

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
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.
I
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
172

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.
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.
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

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.
AI 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.
I ne 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)!
177