1993 CADILLAC SEVILLE ESP

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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 dangeroucr. hur rt(lrw%.
perceptions, and judgment will be aNecled by even a smrl?
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 PEHICLE
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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine lane as oncoming traffic for several seconds. A miscalculation, an error in
judgment, or a brief surrender to frustration or anger can suddenly put
the passing driver face to face
with the worst of all traffic accidents -- the
head-on collision.
So here are some tips for passing:
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“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
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
0 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.
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.
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 Cadillac’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 corner on a wet, snow-
or ice-covered road), ease your foot
off the accelerator pedal as soon as
you feel
the vehicle start to slide. Quickly steer the way you want to go. If
you start steering quickly enough, your vehicle will straighten out. As it
does, straighten the front wheels.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 0
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Don’t drink and drive. (See “Drunken Driving” in the Index for more
on this problem.)
Adjust your inside rearview mirror to reduce the glare from headlights
behind
you.
Since you can’t see as well, you may need to slow down and keep more
space between you and other vehicles. It’s hard to tell how fast the
vehicle ahead is going just by looking at its taillights.
Slow down, especially on higher speed roads. Your headlights can light
up only
so much road ahead.
In remote areas, watch for animals.
If you’re tired, pull off the road in a safe place and rest.
Night Vision
No one can see as well at night as in the daytime. But as we get older
these differences increase. A 50-year-old driver may require at least twice
as much light to see the same thing at night as a 20-year-old.
What you
do in the daytime can also affect your night vision. For
example, if you spend the day in bright sunshine you are wise to wear
sunglasses. Your eyes
will have less trouble adjusting to night.
But
if you’re driving, don’t wear sunglasses at night. They may cut down
on glare from headlights, but they also make a lot
of things invisible that
should remain visible
- such as parked cars, obstacles, pedestrians, or
even trains blocking railway crossings. You may want to put on your
sunglasses after you have pulled into a brightly-lighted service or
refreshment area. Eyes shielded from that glare may adjust more quickly
to darkness back
on the road. But be sure to remove your sunglasses
before you leave the service area.
You can be temporarily blinded by approaching lights. It can take a
second
or two, or even several seconds, for your eyes to readjust to the
dark. When
you are faced with severe glare (as from a driver who doesn’t
lower the high beams, or a vehicle with misaimed headlights), slow down
a little. Avoid staring directly into the approaching lights. If there is a line
of opposing traffic, make occasional glances over the line
of headlights to
make certain that
one of the vehicles isn’t starting to move into your lane.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine DmNG IN THE RAIN
Rain and wet roads can mean driving trouble. On a w et road ya IU 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.
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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine DRIVING IN FOG, MISTAND HAZE
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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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. Use your fog lights if your
vehicle has them.
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 lights on, start your hazard warning flasher,
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.
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