1997 CHEVROLET ASTRO light

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
ANTI -
LOCK
If there’s a problem with the
’ anti-lock brake system, this
warning light
will stay on.
1 See “Anti-Lock Brake
1 System Warning Light” in
I the Index.
4-7

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine An emergency like this requires close attention and a
quick decision.
If you are holding the steering wheel at
the recommended
9 and 3 o’clock positions, you can
turn it a full 180 degrees very quickly without removing
either hand. But
you have to act fast, steer quickly, and
just as quickly straighten the wheel once you have
avoided the object.
The fact that such emergency situations are always
possible is a good reason to practice defensive driving at
all times and wear safety belts properly.
Off-Road Recovery
You may find sometime that your right wheels have
dropped off the edge of a road onto the shoulder while
you’re driving.
If the level of the shoulder is only slightly below the
pavement, recovery should be fairly easy. Ease
off the
accelerator and then, if there is nothing in the way, steer
so
that your vehicle straddles the edge of the pavement. You
can turn the steering wheel up to one-quarter turn until the
right front tire contacts the pavement edge. Then turn your
steering wheel
to go straight down the roadway.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Here are some tips on night driving.
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
Drive defensively.
Don’t drink and drive.
Adjust your inside rearview mirror to reduce the
glare from headlamps behind you.
Since you can’t see as well, you may need to
slow down and keep more space between you and
other vehicles,
Slow down, especially on higher speed roads. Your
headlamps 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.
You can be temporarily blinded by approaching
headlamps.
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 headlamps), slow down a
little. Avoid staring
directly into the approaching headlamps.
Keep your windshield and all the glass
c-1 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. Dirty glass makes
lights dazzle and flash more than clean glass would,
making the pupils of your eyes contract repeatedly.
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 headlamps, but
they also make a lot
of things invisible. Remember
that your headlamps 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 headlamps 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.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
Wet brakes can cause accidents. They wc ~ t work
as 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.
Hydroplaning doesn't happen often. But
it can if your
tires do not have 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.
4-17

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Driving Through Deep Standing Water
NOTICE:
If you drive too quickly through deep puddles or
standing water, water can come in through your
engine’s air intake and badly damage your
engine. Never drive through water that
is slightly
lower than the underbody
of your vehicle. If you
can’t avoid deep puddles or standing water, drive
through them very slowly.
Some Other Rainy Weather Tips
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.
0 Have good tires with proper tread depth. (See
“Tires” in the Index.)
City Driving
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.
4-18

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Here are ways to increase your safety in city driving:
0 Know the best way to get to where you are going.
Get a city map and plan your trip into an
unknown part of the city just as you would for
a
cross-country trip.
0 Try to use the freeways that rim and crisscross most
large cities. You’ll save time and energy. (See the
next
part, “Freeway Driving.”)
0 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 vehrcles that have not
cleared the intersection
or may be running the red light.
/I
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.
4-19

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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
too-slow driving breaks a smooth traffic flow. Treat the
left lane on a freeway as a passing lane.
At the entrance, there is usually a ramp that 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. Try to merge into the gap at close to
the prevailing speed. Switch on your turn signal, check
your mirrors and glance over your shoulder as
often as
necessary. Try to blend smoothly with
the traffic flow.
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.
Before changing lanes, check your 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.
Once you are moving
on the freeway, make certain you
allow a reasonable following distance. Expect to move
slightly slower at night.
When
you want to leave the freeway, move to the proper
lane well
in advance. If you miss your exit, do not,
under any circumstances, stop and back up. Drive on to
the next 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.
4-20

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Winter Driving
Here are some tips for winter driving:
Have your vehicle in good shape for winter.
You may want to put winter emergency supplies in
your vehicle. Include
an ice scraper,
a small brush or broom, a supply
of windshield washer fluid, a rag, some winter outer
clothing,
a small shovel, a flashlight, a red cloth and
reflective warning triangles. And, if you will be driving
under severe conditions, include a small bag of sand, a
piece of old carpet or a couple
of burlap bags to help
provide traction. Be sure
you properly secure these
items in your vehicle.
Driving on Snow or Ice
Most of the time, those places where your tires meet the
road probably have
good traction.
However,
if there is snow or ice between your tires and
the road,
you can have a very slippery situation. You’ll
have a lot less traction
or “grip” and will need to be
very careful.
4-24