1997 CHEVROLET S10 Owners Manual

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 3-24

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Section 4 Your Driving. and the- Road
Were-. you’ll find information ,ab.aut driving on different kinds o.frodds and in varyir@ weatkr-er c’oiiditians. We”ve ako
inc1ude.d many other useful tips ;on driving.
4-2
4-3
4-6
4-6
4-5)
4-1
1
4-12
4-13
4-14
4-2.9
4-3..1
4-34
4-35
Defmsive.Driving
Drunken Driving
Control of a Vehicle
Braking
Steering
Off-Road Recovery
Passing
Loss. of Control
Driving Guidelines
Diiving at-Night
Driving in Rain .and on Wet Roads
City Driving
Freeway Driving
4-3 6
4-37
437
4-39
4-43
4-43
4--44-
4-49
4-49
B-ef6x.e Leaving- on a Long Trip
Hi,ghway
Hypnosis
Hill and Mountain Roads
Wint-eter DriviQg
Recreaii-ana;l Vehide Tbwing
(Four-Wheel .Drive with: the. Manual
Shift Transfer Ca$e Only)
Recreational
Vehicle Towitlg (Except
Four-wheel Drive with the Manud
SMt ~ Transfe-r Ca,s e)
Loading Your Vehic1.e
Pickup Conversion to Chassis Cab
Towing a Trailer

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is:
Drive defensively.
Please start
with a very important safety device in your
vehicle: Buckle
up.. (See “Safety Belts” in the Index.)
Defensive driving- really me.ans “be ready €or anything.”\

On city streets, rural roads or freeways, it means
“alw.ays expect the unexpected.’’
Assume that pedestrians or o,ther 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.
4-2

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Drunken Driving
Death and injury asscxiated with drinking md driving is
a nati0n.a.l .tragedy. 11's the. riumber one c6ntjribLttor tQ
the h.ighway de.ath toll, claiming thomands of victims
.every year.
Judgment
m Muscular Coordination
. vision
The BLo.o,d Alcohc\l Cowentratiorr (BAC) of someone
who is drinking depends upon four things:
The'amount of alcohol .consume,d
The.drinker 's- body weight
The-:mount of fo:od that is con~urnedlhefo.re a1
The length of time it has taken the drinber'to
durin-g
-drinking
consumE the-
alcohol.
Ac.cording
tq the, AniGrican Medical. As:Sso.c.iati~n, a
18U-lb. (-8.2 kg) person wha drinks three. 12-ounce
(3.55 ml) bottles, uf.beer in an -hour will, end up with.-&
BAC :of ab0u.t 0.06 perc.ent.-The person would reach the
same BAC by drinking three &ounce (~120 rnl) glasses
of wine or three mixed drinks if :ex& had. 1- 1/2 ~unces
(45 ml) -.of.& liquor like. whiskey, .gin a~ vodka
4-3

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine It% the- amount of alcohol that counts For. example, if
the same person drank three double martiriis (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
somewhat lower BAC level.
There
is a gender difference, too. Women generally have
a lower relative percentage of body water than men. Since
alcohol
is carried in body water, this rneansIthat a
woman gerieitally will reach a higher BAC level tlia a
man of her s:ame body weight when each has the.sa-me
-number of drinks.
The law in many U.S. states sets the legal lim.it at P BAC
of 0,l-0 percent. In a growing number af US. stsltes, and
throughout Canada, the limit is 0.08 percent. In surne
other countries,
if's even lower. The BAC limit for? all
commercial drivers
in the United-States is 0.04 percent.
The BAC will be over 0.1'0 percent after three to six
.drinks (in one hour). Of co.urse, as wek seen, it
depe.nds on haw muGh alcoho1.k in the &irk,. ana-how
quickly the person
drinks hem.
But the ability to drive is affected well below a BAC of
0.10 percent. Research shows that the driving, skills of
many peep-le are impaired at a BAC .approaching
0.05 percent, and that the effects are wo1s.e af night. All:
'drivers are impaired at BAC-levels above 0.05 percent.
Statistics show that the chance
of being in a collision
increases sharply for drivers who have
a BAC of
0.05 ',percent or above. A driver with. a'BAC level of
:0.06 percent- has doubledhis or her chance of haying- a
cdolli&on. At a.BAC level of 0...10 percent? the chance of
this drives having a collision is 12 times greater; at a
level of 0. I5 percent, the chance is 25 times greater!
4-4
. . ..

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine The body takes about an hour to rid itself of the alcohol
in one drink. No amouht of coffee or number of cold
,showers will speed that up. “I’ll be. careflul” isn’t the
Tight
answer. What if $here’s an emergency,-.a-n.eed to
$&e -sudden action, as when .a .child darts into.. the =strG,e.t?
:A p-~rsori with even, a .mderate B.AC mi,ght not’be able
:Xo react quickly e~~augh to avoid the collision.
There’s something-else ab.0u.t drinking ,and driving that
‘mmy people don’t know. MediGal rese’aPch showsthat
l%ak-cihol in:a pefsun’s system: can make .crash injuries
worse, especi-ally injuries to the brain, spinal e-md or
he-art. This mearis that when anyone who has been
drinking --- driver or passenger -- is- ill a ci-ash, that
person’s. ch:ance: of ‘being lulled or permanently di:sabled
is.hi@her tk ~ if the ,person had-mt been drinking.
Drinking and then driving is. very dangerous.,
Your reflexes, perceptions, attentiveness and
j-udg:me.nt can be affected by ‘even a sman amount
of alcohol. You can have a.serious -- or even
fatal
--- collision if you drive after drinkhg.
Please
don’t-drink md drive or ride with a driver
who has been drinking. Ride home in a cab; or if-
you’re with a group, designates driver who dl
not drink.
4-5.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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 action involves
perception
time and reaction time
First, you have to decide to push ob 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 me driver
and
as long as two or three seconds or more with
another. Age., physical condition, alertness, co.ordinati.on
and eyesight
all play a part. So do aIcohol, drugs and
frustration.
But even in 314 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
easy
to ask more of those control systems than the tires
and road can provide. That means you can lase c.ontrol
of
your vehicle.
4-6 .-

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
Your vehicle has anti-lock bmk& (ABS). ABS is an
advanced .electronic braking systeni that will help
prevent a braking skid.
When you start your engine and begin to drive away,
your-anti-lok
brake system will check. itself. Yau may
hear
a rnsrnentary motor or clicking-noise, w-file this ‘test
is going on. This is normal.
If your-engine ever stqs while you’se driving, brake
normally
but do;n’:t pul~ip your brakes. Ifyou do, th-e
,p%ed-al may get hard-er-to puGh .down. If -your.engi-ne
‘stops, you will-s~tal have some power assist. B:ut
you will a-se it when you brake; Once the power.asskt is
used up, it may take long-er to stop afid thelljrake pedal
will
.be .harder to zrush.
ANTI - LOCK
If there’s a problem with the.
anti-lock brake system, -this
war‘i&g.Iight will stay an.
See. “Anti-Lo& Brake
System
Warning Light” in
th.e Index.
4-7