1993 BUICK PARK AVENUE Owners Manual

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.
Driving in the Rain
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.
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.
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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 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.
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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.
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
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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Driving in Fog, Mist and Haze
r
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.
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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
IO
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 prepared 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.
City Driving
L
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.
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Here are ways tohcrease your safety in city driving:
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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.")
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.
Obey all posted speed limits. But remember that they
are for ideal road, weather and visibility conditions.
You may need to drive below the posted limit in bad
weather or when visibility is especially poor.
Pull
to the right (with care) and stop clear of
intersections when you see or hear emergency
vehicles.
Freeway Driving
Mile for mile, freeways (also called thruways,
parkways, expressways, turnpikes, or superhighways)
are the safest
of all roads. But they have their own
special rules.
The most important advice on freeway driving is: Keep
up with traffic and keep to the right. Drive at the same
speed most
of the other drivers are driving. Too-fast or
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too-slow driving breaks a smooth traffic flow. Treat the
left lane on a freeway as a passing lane.
Entering the Freeway
At the entrance there is usually a ramp mat leads to the
freeway.
If you have a clear view of the freeway as you
drive along the entrance ramp, you should begin to
check traffic. Try to. determine where you expect to
blend with the flow.
If traffic is light, you may have no
problem. But if it is heavy, find a gap as you move along
the entering lane and time your approach. Try to merge
into the gap at,close to the prevailing speed. Switch on
your
turn signal, check your rearview mirrors as you
move along, and glance over your shoulder as often as
necessary. Try to blend smoothly with the traffi.c flow.
Driving on the Freeway
Once you are on the freeway, adjust your speed to the
posted limit or to the prevailing rate if it’s slower. Stay
in the right lane unless you want to ‘pass. If you are on a
two-lane freeway, treat the right Lane as the slow lane
and the left lane as the passing lane.
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.
At 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
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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.
The 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)!
Driving a Long Distance
Although most long trips today are made on freeways,
there are still many made on regular highways.
Long-distance driving on freeways and regular
highways
is the same in some ways. The trip has to be
planned and
the vehicle prepared, you drive at
higher-than-city speeds, and there are longer turns
behind the wheel. You’ll enjoy your trip more
if you and your vehicle
are in good shape. Here are some tips for a
successful long trip.
Before Leaving on a Long Trip
Make sure you’re ready. Try to be well rested. If you
must start when you’re not fresh -- such as after a day’s
work
-- don’t plan to make too many miles that first part
of the journey. Wear comfortable clothing and shoes you
can easily drive
in.
Is your vehicle ready for a long trip? If you keep it
serviced and maintained, it’s ready to go. If it needs
service, have it done before starting out. Of course,
you’ll find experienced and able service experts in
Buick dealerships all across North America. They’ll be
ready and willing to help if
you need it.
Here are some things you can check before a trip:
Windshield Washer Fluid: Is the reservoir full? Are
all windows clean inside and outside?
0 Wiper Blades: Are they in good shape?
Fuel, Engine Oil, Other Fluids: Have you checked
Lights: Are they all working? Are the lenses clean?
Tires: They are vitally important to a safe,
all levels?
trouble-free trip. Is
the tread good enough
for
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