brake OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA 1997 Owner's Manual

Section 4 Your Driving and the Road
Here you’ll find information about driving on different kinds of roads and in varying weather conditions. We’ve also
included many other useful tips on driving.
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Defensive Driving
Driving Drunk
Having Control of Your Vehicle
Your Braking System Information
Anti-Lock Brake Information
Braking
in Emergencies
Steering Tips
Off-Road Recovery Tips
Passing Other Vehicles
Losing Control of Your Vehicle
Four-wheel Off-Road.Driving Guidelines Night
Driving
Driving
in Rain and on Wet Roads
Tips Before Leaving on a Long Trip
Avoiding Highway Hypnosis
Driving on
Hills and Mountains
Winter Driving
If You’re Caught in a Blizzard
Loading Your Vehicle
Recreational Vehicle Towing
Helpful Hints for Towing
a Trailer
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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
Oldsmobile: 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.”
Assu~ne that pedestrians
or other drivers are going to be
careless and make mistakes. Anticipate what they might
do. Be ready for their mistakes.
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.
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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.
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; the condition
of your brakes; the weight of the
vehicle and the amount of brake force applied.
~ Sometimes, as when you’re driving on snow or ice, it’s
1 easy to ask more of those control systems than the tires
and road can provide. That means you can lose control
of your vehicle.
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Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive in
spurts -- heavy acceleration followed by heavy
braking
-- rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is a
mistake.
Your brakes may not have time to cool between
hard stops. Your brakes will wear
out much faster if you
do a lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace with the
traffic and allow realistic following distances, you will
eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking. That means
better braking and longer brake life.
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 vehicle has anti-lock brakes (ABS). ABS is an
advanced electronic braking system that
will help
prevent a braking skid.
When you start your engine and begin to drive away,
your anti-lock brake system will check itself. You
may
hear a momentary motor or clicking noise while this test
is going on. This
is normal.
If there’s a problem with the
anti-lock brake system, this
warning light will stay on.
System Warning Light” in
the Index.
ANTI - LOCK See “Anti-Lock Brake
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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. If one
of the wheels is about to stop rolling, the computer
will
separately work 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.
You can steer around the obstacle while braking hard.
As you brake, your cornputer keeps receiving updates on
wheel speed and controls braking pressure accordingly.
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Remember: Anti-lock doesn’t change the time you need
to get your foot
up to the brake pedal or always decrease
stopping distance.
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.
Using Anti-Lock
Don’t pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal down
and let anti-lock work for you.
You may feel the brakes
vibrate, or you may notice some noise, but this is normal.
Braking in Emergencies
With anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the same
time.
In many emergencies, steering can help you more
than even the very best braking.
Steering
Power Steering
If you lose power steering assist because the engine
stops or the system is
not functioning, you can steer but
it will take much more effort.
Steering Tips
Driving on Curves
It’s important to take curves at a reasonable speed.
A lot of the “driver lost control” accidents mentioned on
the news happen on curves. Here’s why:
Experienced driver or beginner, each
of us is subject to
the same laws of physics when driving
on curves. The
traction
of the tires against the road surface makes it
possible for the vehicle to change its path when you turn
the front wheels.
If there’s no traction, inertia will keep
the vehicle going in the same direction.
If you’ve ever
tried to steer a vehicle on wet ice,
you’ll understand this.
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The traction you can get in a curve depends on the
condition
of your tires and the road surface, the angle at
which
the curve is banked, and your speed. While you’re
in a curve, speed is the one factor you can control.
Suppose you‘re steering through a sharp curve. Then you
suddenly accelerate. Both control system
-- steering and
acceleration
-- have to do their work where the tires meet
the road. Adding the sudden acceleration can demand too much of those places.
You can lose control.
What should you do
if this ever happens? Ease up on the
accelerator pedal, steer the vehicle
the way you want it
to go, and slow down.
Speed
limit signs near curves warn that you should
adjust your speed.
Of course, the posted speeds are
based on good weather and road conditions. Under less
favorable conditions you’ll want to go slower.
If you need to reduce your speed as you approach a
curve, do it before you enter the curve, while yo~~r front
wheels are straight ahead.
Try to adjust your speed
so you can “drive” through the
curve. Maintain a reasonable, steady speed. Wait to
accelerate
until you are out of the curve, and then
accelerate gently into the straightaway.
Steering in Emergencies
There are times when steering can be more effective than
braking. For example, you come over a hill and find a
truck stopped
in your lane, or a car suddenly pulls out
from nowhere, or a child darts out from between parked
cars and stops right in front of you. You can avoid these
problems by braking
-- if you can stop in time. But
sometimes you can’t; there isn’t room. That’s the time \
for
evasive action
-- steering around the problem.
Your Oldsmobile can perform very well
in emergencies
like these. First apply your brakes. (See “Braking
in
Emergencies‘’ earlier in this section.) It is better to
remove
as much speed as you can from a possible
collision. Then steer around the problem, to the left or
right depending on the space available.
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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
fa- 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.)
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 lamps 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.
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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
Oldsmobile’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, ease your foot off the
accelerator pedal and quickly steer the way you want the
vehicle to go. If you start steering quickly enough, your
vehicle may straighten out. Always be ready for
a
second skid if it occurs.
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 brake system (ABS) helps
avoid only the braking skid.
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Driving Guidelines
This multiplrpose passenger vehicle is defined as a utility
vehicle in Consumer Information Regulations issued by
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) of the United States Department of
Transportation.
Utility vehicles have higher ground
clearance and a narrower track to make them capable
of
performing in a wide variety of off-road applications.
Specific design characteristics give them a higher center of
gravity than ordinary cars.
An advantage of the higher
ground clearance is
a better view of the road allowing you
to anticipate problems. They are not designed
for
cornering at the same speeds as conventional
two-wheel-drive vehicles any more than low-slung sports
cars are designed to perform satisfactorily under off-road
conditions.
If at all possible, avoid sharp turns or abrupt
maneuvers.
As with other vehicles of this type, failure to
operate this vehicle correctly may result
in loss of control
or vehicle rollover.
Operating Your Bravada Off Paved Roads
Many of the same design features that help make
Bravada responsive on paved roads during poor weather
conditions
-- features like the locking rear axle and
all-wheel drive
-- help make it much better suited for
off-road use than
a conventional passenger car. Its
higher ground clearance also helps Bravada step over
some off-road obstacles.
But Bravada doesn’t have
features like special underbody shielding and a transfer
case low gear range. things that are
LISLI~~~Y thought
necessary for extended or severe off-road service. This
guide is for operating your Bravada off paved roads.
Also, see “Anti-Lock Brakes’’
in the Index.
Off-road driving can be great fun.
But it does have some
definite hazards. The greatest
of these is the terrain itself.
“Off-roading” means you’ve left the great North
American
road system behind. Traffic lanes aren’t
marked. Curves aren’t banked. There are
no road signs.
Surfaces can
be slippery, rough, uphill or downhill. In
short, you’ve gone right back to nature.
Off-road driving involves some new skills. And that’s
why it’s very important that you read this guide. You’ll
find many driving tips and suggestions. These will help
make your off-road driving safer and more enjoyable.
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