1997 PONTIAC PONTIAC ESP

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
system working, or you may notice some noise,
but this is normal.
LOW
TRAC
When your anti-lock system
is adjusting brake pressure
to help
avoid a braking skid,
this light will come on. See
“Anti-Lock Brake System
Active Light” in the Index.
Trac System (Option: Not Available with
3800 Supercharged Engine)
Your vehicle may have Trac System that limits wheel
spin. This
is especially useful in slippery road
conditions. The system operates only if it senses that one
or both of the front wheels are spinning or beginning to
lose traction. When this happens, the system reduces
engine power and may also upshift the transaxle to limit
wheel spin.
LOW
TRAC
This light will come on
when your Trac System is
limiting wheel spin. See
“Trac System Active Light”
in
the Index. You may feel
or hear the system working,
but this is normal.
The Trac System operates in all transaxle shift lever
positions. But the system can upshift
the tran.saxle only
as high as the shift lever position you’ve chosen, so you
should use the lower gears only when necessary. See
“Automatic Transaxle” in the Index.
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I TRAC
When the system is on and
the parking brake is fully
released, this warning light
will
come on to let you
know if there’s
a problem
with the system. See “Trac
System Warning Light” in
the Index.
To turn the system on or off,
press the TRAC button on
the on the far
right end of
the Driver Information
Center
or the optional
Trip Computer.
When this warning light is on, the system will not limit
wheel spin. Adjust your driving accordingly.
To limit wheel spin, especially in slippery road
conditions, you should always leave the Trac System on.
But you can turn the system off if you ever need to.
(You should turn the system off
if your vehicle ever gets
stuck in sand, mud, ice
or snow. See “Rocking Your
Vehicle” in the Index.) When
you turn the system
off, the Trac System warning
light will come on and stay on. If the Trac System is
limiting wheel spin when you press the button to turn
the system off, the warning light will come on
-- but the
system won’t turn off right away. It will wait until
there’s no longer
a current need to limit wheel spin.
You can turn the system back on at any time by pressing
the button again. The Trac System warning light should
go off.
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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.
0 When it looks like a chance to pass is coming up,
start to accelerate but stay in the right l’ane 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
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.
Don’t overtake a 8slowly moving vehicle too rapidly.
, Even though the brake lamps are not flashing, it may
be slowing down or starting to turn.
0 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.
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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 Pontiac’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 is best handled by easing your foot off
the accelerator pedal.
If you have the Trac System, remember: It helps avoid
only the acceleration skid. If
you do not have the Trac System, or if the system is
off, then an acceleration skid is also best handled by
easing your foot off
the accelerator pedal.
If your vehicle starts to slide, ease your foot off the
accelerator pedal and quickly steer the way you want the
vehicle to go.
If you start..steering quickly enough, your
vehicle may straighten out. Always be ready for a
second slud
if it occurs.
Of course, traction is reduced when water, snow, ice,
gravel or other material
is on the road. For safety, you’ll
want to slow down and adjust your driving to these
conditions. It
is important to slow down on slippery
surfaces because stopping distance will be longer and
vehicle control more limited.
While driving on a surface with reduced traction,
try your
best to avoid sudden steering, acceleration or braking
(including engine braking by shifting
to a lower gear).
Any sudden changes could cause the tires to slide. You
may not realize the surface is slippery until your vehicle
is skidding. Learn to recognize warning clues -- such as
enough water, ice or packed snow on
the road to make a
“mirrored surface”
-- and slow down when you have
any doubt.
Remember: Any anti-lock brake system (ABS) helps
avoid only the braking skid.
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Driving at Night
Night driving is more dangerous than day driving.
One reason is that some drivers
are likely to be
impaired
-- by alcohol or drugs, with night vision
problems,
or by fatigue.
Here are some tips on night driving.
0 Drive defensively.
e
0
e
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.
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.
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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.
Driving Through Deep Standing Water
I 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.
I
Some Other Rainy Weather .-r~s
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.
~.
Have good tires with proper tread depth. (See
“Tires” in
the Index.)
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Tie a sed cloth to your vehicle to alert police that
you've been stopped
by the snow.
Put on extra clothing or wrap a blanket 'aro'und you.
If you have no blankets or extra clothing, make body
insulators from newspapers, burlap bags, rags, floor
mats
-- anything you can wrap around yourself or
tuck under your clothing to keep
warm.
Snow can trap exhaust gases under your vehicle.
This can cause deadly
GO (carbon monoxide) gas
to get inside.
GO could overcome you and kill
you. You can't see it or smell
it, so you might not
know
it is in your vehicle. Clear away snow from
around the
base of your vehicle, especially any
that is blocking
your exhaust pipe. And check
around
again from time to time to be sure snow
doesn't collect there.
Open
a window just a little on the side of the
vehicle that's away from the wind. This will help
keep
CO out.
i
You can run the engine to keep warm, but be careful,
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Driving with a Trailer Following Bistance
Towing a trailer requires a certain amount of experience.
Before setting out for the open road, you’ll want to get
to know your rig. Acquaint yourself with the feel
of
handling and braking with the added weight of the
trailer. And always keep in mind that the vehicle you
are
driving is now a good deal longer an’d not nearly as
responsive as your vehicle
is by itself.
Before you start, check the trailer hitch and platform
(and attachments), safety chains, electrical connector,
lamps, tires and mirror adjustment. If the trailer has
electric brakes, start your vehicle
and trailer moving and
then apply the trailer brake controller by hand to be sure
the brakes
are working. This lets you check your
electrical connection at the same time.
During your trip, check occasionally to be sure that the
load
is secure, and that the lamps and any trailer brakes
are still working, Stay
at least twice as far behind the vehicle ahead as you
would when driving
your vehicle without a trailer. This
can help you avoid situations that require heavy bralung
and sudden turns.
Passing
You’ll need more passing distance up ahead when
you’re towing a trailer. And, because you’re
a good deal
longer, you’ll need to
go much farther beyond the
passed vehicle before you can return to your lane.
Backing Up
Hold the bottom of the steering wheel with one hand.
Then, to move the trailer to the left, just
move that hand
to the left.
To move the trailer to the right, move your
hand to the right. Always back up slowly and,
if
possible, have someone guide you.
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