1997 OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA Owners Manual

But 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 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 doubled his or her chance of having a
collision.
At a BAC level of 0.10 percent, the chance of
this driver having a collision
is 12 times greater; at a
level of 0.15 percent, the chance is 25 times greater!
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.
“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 even a moderate 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, especially injuries to the brain, spinal cord or
heart. This means that when anyone who has been
drinking
-- driver or passenge.r -- is in a crash, that
person’s chance of being killed or permanently disabled
is higher than
if the person had not been drinking.
Drinking and then driving is very dangerous.
Your reflexes, perceptions, attentiveness and
judgment can be affected by even a small amount
of alcohol. You can have a serious
-- or even
fatal
-- collision 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.
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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.
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 3/4 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 3/4 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
1 easy to ask more of those control systems than the tires
and road can provide. That means you can lose control
of your vehicle.
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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.
If there’s a problem with the
anti-lock brake system, this
warning light will stay on.
System Warning Light” in
the Index.
ANTI - LOCK See “Anti-Lock Brake
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Here’s how anti-lock works. Let’s say the road is wet.
You’re driving safely. Suddenly an animal jumps out
in
front of you.
You slam
on the brakes. Here’s what happens with ABS.
A computer senses that wheels are slowing down. If one
of the wheels is about to stop rolling, the computer
will
separately work the brakes at each front wheel and at the
rear wheels. The anti-lock system can change the brake
pressure faster
than any driver could. The computer is programmed to
make the most of available tire and road conditions.
You can steer around the obstacle while braking hard.
As you brake, your cornputer keeps receiving updates on
wheel speed and controls braking pressure accordingly.
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Remember: Anti-lock doesn’t change the time you need
to get your foot
up to the brake pedal or always decrease
stopping distance.
If you get too close to the vehicle in
front of you, you won’t have time to apply your brakes
if that vehicle suddenly slows or stops. Always leave
enough room up ahead to stop, even though you have
anti-lock brakes.
Using Anti-Lock
Don’t pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal down
and let anti-lock work for you.
You may feel the brakes
vibrate, or you may notice some noise, but this is normal.
Braking in Emergencies
With anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the same
time.
In many emergencies, steering can help you more
than even the very best braking.
Steering
Power Steering
If you lose power steering assist because the engine
stops or the system is
not functioning, you can steer but
it will take much more effort.
Steering Tips
Driving on Curves
It’s important to take curves at a reasonable speed.
A lot of the “driver lost control” accidents mentioned on
the news happen on curves. Here’s why:
Experienced driver or beginner, each
of us is subject to
the same laws of physics when driving
on curves. The
traction
of the tires against the road surface makes it
possible for the vehicle to change its path when you turn
the front wheels.
If there’s no traction, inertia will keep
the vehicle going in the same direction.
If you’ve ever
tried to steer a vehicle on wet ice,
you’ll understand this.
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The traction you can get in a curve depends on the
condition
of your tires and the road surface, the angle at
which
the curve is banked, and your speed. While you’re
in a curve, speed is the one factor you can control.
Suppose you‘re steering through a sharp curve. Then you
suddenly accelerate. Both control system
-- steering and
acceleration
-- have to do their work where the tires meet
the road. Adding the sudden acceleration can demand too much of those places.
You can lose control.
What should you do
if this ever happens? Ease up on the
accelerator pedal, steer the vehicle
the way you want it
to go, and slow down.
Speed
limit signs near curves warn that you should
adjust your speed.
Of course, the posted speeds are
based on good weather and road conditions. Under less
favorable conditions you’ll want to go slower.
If you need to reduce your speed as you approach a
curve, do it before you enter the curve, while yo~~r front
wheels are straight ahead.
Try to adjust your speed
so you can “drive” through the
curve. Maintain a reasonable, steady speed. Wait to
accelerate
until you are out of the curve, and then
accelerate gently into the straightaway.
Steering in Emergencies
There are times when steering can be more effective than
braking. For example, you come over a hill and find a
truck stopped
in your lane, or a car suddenly pulls out
from nowhere, or a child darts out from between parked
cars and stops right in front of you. You can avoid these
problems by braking
-- if you can stop in time. But
sometimes you can’t; there isn’t room. That’s the time \
for
evasive action
-- steering around the problem.
Your Oldsmobile can perform very well
in emergencies
like these. First apply your brakes. (See “Braking
in
Emergencies‘’ earlier in this section.) It is better to
remove
as much speed as you can from a possible
collision. Then steer around the problem, to the left or
right depending on the space available.
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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.
OFF- ROAD RECOVERY
/
7577 edge of paved surface
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.
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So here are some tips for passing: Passing
The driver of a vehicle about to pass another on a
two-lane highway waits for just
the right moment,
accelerates, moves around the vehicle ahead, then goes
back into the right lane again.
A simple maneuver‘?
Not necessarily! Passing another vehicle on a two-lane
highway is
a potentially dangerous move, since the
passing vehicle occupies the same 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.
0 “Drive ahead.” Look down the road, to the sides and to
crossroads for situations that night affect your passing
patterns.
If you have any doubt whatsoever about
making
a successful pass, wait for a better time.
0 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.
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.
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