OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE 1993 Owners Manual

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
.
Part
Your Driving and the Road
Roadsigns ...................................................... 140
Defensive Driving
................................................ 144
Drunken Driving
................................................. 145
Control
of a Vehicle ............................................... 147
Braking
....................................................... 148
Anti-LockBrakes
............................................... 149
SteeringTips
................................................... 154
Passing
....................................................... 156
DrivingatNight
.................................................. 159
Driving in the Rain
................................................ 161
Driving in Fog. Mist and Haze
...................................... 164
CityDriving
..................................................... 165
Freeway Driving
................................................. 166
Driving
a Long Distance ........................................... 168
HillandMountainRoads
........................................... 170
ParkingonHills
.................................................. 171
Winter Driving
................................................... 173
TowingaTrailer
.................................................. 177
Steering in Emergencies
.......................................... 155
139
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Your Driving and the Road
140
w Road Signs
The road signs you see everywhere are
coded by color, shape and symbols.
It's
a good idea to know these codes so that
you can quickly grasp the basic meaning
or intent of the sign even before you
have a chance to read it.
STOP DO NOT ENTER
Color of Road Signs
Red means Stop. It may also indicate
1
1
:hat some movement is not allowed.
Examples are
Do Not Enter and Wrong
Way.
X4025 I
WRONG
WAY
Green is used to guide the driver. Green
;igns may indicate upcoming freeway
:xits or show the direction you should
urn to reach
a particular place.
RR ADVANCE NARROW NO PASSING
CROSSING BRIDGE ZONE
Yellow indicates a general warning.
Slow down and be careful when
you see
a yellow sign. It may signal a railroad
crossing ahead, a no passing zone, or
some other potentially dangerous
situation. Likewise, a yellow solid line
painted on the road means
Don't Cross.
HOSPITAL
11
Blue signs with white letters show
motorists' services.
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Orange indicates road construction or
maintenance. You'll want
to slow down
when
you see an orange sign, as part of
the road may be closed off or torn up.
And there may be workers and
maintenance vehicles around, too.
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.
An octagonal (eight-sided) sign means
Stop. It is always red with white letters.
A triangle, pointed downward, indicates
Yield. It assigns the right of way to
traffic on certain approaches to an
intersection. A
diamond-shaped sign
is a warning of
something ahead-for example, a curve,
steep hill,
soft shoulder, or a narrow
bridge.
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.
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142
KEEP
RIGHT LEFT OR THROUGH RIGHT TURN ONLY
Shape of Road Signs (CONT.)
Rectangular (square or oblong) signs
show speed limits, parking regulations,
give directions, and such information as
distances to cities.
Symbols on Road Signs
There are many international road signs
in use today.
NO U TURN NO NO
PARKING BICYCLES
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.
Trait2 Lights
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.
Some traffic lights also use red arrows
to signify that you must stop before
turning on red.
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REVERSIBLE LANE ON MULTILANE ROADWAY
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 drive in that lane.
Look for the
signs posted to warn drivers what hours
and days these systems are in effect.
~ ~~~
NO PASSING ZONE
Pavement Markings
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.
Slowing 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 the
Index under Hazard
Warning Flashers.
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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Your Driving and the Road
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 the
Index under Safety Belts.)
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.
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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
Muscular Coordination
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:
How much alcohol is in the drink.
The drinker’s body weight.
The amount of food that is consumed
before and during drinking.
The length of time it has taken the
drinker to consume the alcohol. 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 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% 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.
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Your Driving and the Road
Drunken Driving (CONT.)
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).
I46
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.
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“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 t
C
he chance
of a crash itself is higher for
kinking drivers.
CAllT€~N
r Drinking and then driving is
c b very dangerous. Your reflexes,
pexeptions, 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.
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.
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.
n
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148
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 % 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
% of a second, a
vehicle moving at
60 mph (100 h/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.
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.
Don’t “ride” the brakes by letting your
left foot rest lightly on the brake pedal
while driving.
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