2000 Oldsmobile Bravada Owner's Manuals

3-21 Understanding Radio Reception
AM
The range for most AM stations is greater than for FM,
especially at night. The longer range, however, can
cause stations to interfere with each other. AM can pick
up noise from things like storms and power lines. Try
reducing the treble to reduce this noise if you ever get it.
FM Stereo
FM stereo will give you the best sound, but FM signals
will reach only about 10 to 40 miles (16 to 65 km). Tall
buildings or hills can interfere with FM signals, causing
the sound to come and go.
Tips About Your Audio System
Hearing damage from loud noise is almost undetectable
until it is too late. Your hearing can adapt to higher
volumes of sound. Sound that seems normal can be loud
and harmful to your hearing. Take precautions by
adjusting the volume control on your radio to a safe
sound level before your hearing adapts to it.To help avoid hearing loss or damage:

Adjust the volume control to the lowest setting.

Increase volume slowly until you hear comfortably
and clearly.
NOTICE:
Before you add any sound equipment to your
vehicle
-- like a tape player, CB radio, mobile
telephone or two
-way radio -- be sure you can
add what you want. If you can, it's very
important to do it properly. Added sound
equipment may interfere with the operation of
your vehicle's engine, Delphi Delco Electronics
radio or other systems, and even damage them.
Your vehicle's systems may interfere with the
operation of sound equipment that has been
added improperly.
So, before adding sound equipment, check with
your dealer and be sure to check Federal rules
covering mobile radio and telephone units.

3-22 Care of Your Cassette Tape Player
A tape player that is not cleaned regularly can cause
reduced sound quality, ruined cassettes or a damaged
mechanism. Cassette tapes should be stored in their
cases away from contaminants, direct sunlight and
extreme heat. If they aren't, they may not operate
properly or may cause failure of the tape player.
Your tape player should be cleaned regularly after every
50 hours of use. Your radio may display CLN to indicate
that you have used your tape player for 50 hours without
resetting the tape clean timer. If this message appears on
the display, your cassette tape player needs to be
cleaned. It will still play tapes, but you should clean it as
soon as possible to prevent damage to your tapes and
player. If you notice a reduction in sound quality, try a
known good cassette to see if it is the tape or the tape
player at fault. If this other cassette has no improvement
in sound quality, clean the tape player.
The recommended cleaning method for your cassette
tape player is the use of a scrubbing action,
non
-abrasive cleaning cassette with pads which scrub
the tape head as the hubs of the cleaner cassette turn.
The recommended cleaning cassette is available through
your dealership (GM Part No. 12344789).When using a scrubbing action, non
-abrasive cleaning
cassette, it is normal for the cassette to eject because
your unit is equipped with a cut tape detection feature
and a cleaning cassette may appear as a broken tape.
If the cleaning cassette ejects, insert the cassette at least
three times to ensure thorough cleaning.
You may also choose a non
-scrubbing action, wet-type
cleaner which uses a cassette with a fabric belt to clean
the tape head. This type of cleaning cassette will not
eject on its own. A non
-scrubbing action cleaner may
not clean as thoroughly as the scrubbing type cleaner.
The use of a non
-scrubbing action, dry-type cleaning
cassette is not recommended.
After you clean the player, press and hold EJECT for
five seconds to reset the CLN indicator. The radio will
display
--- to show the indicator was reset.
Cassettes are subject to wear and the sound quality
may degrade over time. Always make sure the cassette
tape is in good condition before you have your tape
player serviced.

3-23 Care of Your Compact Discs
Handle discs carefully. Store them in their original cases
or other protective cases and away from direct sunlight
and dust. If the surface of a disc is soiled, dampen a
clean, soft cloth in a mild, neutral detergent solution and
clean it, wiping from the center to the edge.
Be sure never to touch the signal surface when handling
discs. Pick up discs by grasping the outer edges or the
edge of the hole and the outer edge.
Care of Your Compact Disc Player
The use of CD lens cleaner discs is not advised, due to
the risk of contaminating the lens of the CD optics with
lubricants internal to the CD mechanism.
Fixed Mast Antenna
The fixed mast antenna can withstand most car washes
without being damaged. If the mast should ever become
slightly bent, you can straighten it out by hand. If the
mast is badly bent, as it might be by vandals, you should
replace it.
Check every once in a while to be sure the mast is still
tightened to the fender.

4-
4-1
Section 4 Your Driving and the Road
Here you'll find information about driving on different kinds of roads and in varying weather conditions. We've also
included many other useful tips on driving.
4
-2 Your Driving, the Road and Your Vehicle
4
-3 Defensive Driving
4
-4 Drunken Driving
4
-7 Control of a Vehicle
4
-7 Braking
4
-10 Steering
4
-12 Off-Road Recovery
4
-12 Passing
4
-14 Loss of Control
4
-15 Operating Your Vehicle Off Paved Roads
4
-28 Driving at Night4
-30 Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads
4
-33 City Driving
4
-34 Freeway Driving
4
-35 Before Leaving on a Long Trip
4
-36 Highway Hypnosis
4
-36 Hill and Mountain Roads
4
-38 Winter Driving
4
-41 Recreational Vehicle Towing
4
-42 Loading Your Vehicle
4
-44 Towing a Trailer

4-2
Your Driving, the Road
and Your Vehicle
Whenever we drive, we're taking on an important
responsibility. This is true for any motor
vehicle
-- passenger car, van, truck or sport utility.
Driver behavior, the driving environment, and the
vehicle's design all affect how well a vehicle performs.
But statistics show that the most important factor, by far,
is how we drive. Knowing how these three factors work
together can help you understand how your vehicle
handles and what you can do to avoid many types of
crashes, including a rollover crash.
Driver Behavior
The single most important thing is this: everyone
in the vehicle, including the driver, should buckle up
(see ªSafety Beltsº in the Index). In fact, most
serious injuries and fatalities to unbelted occupants can
be reduced or prevented by the use of safety belts. In a
rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more
likely to die than a person wearing a seat belt. In
addition, avoiding excessive speed, sudden or abrupt
turns and drunken or aggressive driving can help make
trips safer and avoid the possibility of a crash, especially
a rollover crash. This section provides many useful tips
to help you drive more safely.
Driving Environment
You can also help avoid a rollover or other type of crash
by being prepared for driving in inclement weather, at
night, or during other times where visibility or traction
may be limited (such as on curves, slippery roads or
hilly terrain). Unfamiliar surroundings can also have
hidden hazards. To help you learn more about driving in
different conditions, this section contains information
about city, freeway, and off
-road driving, as well as
other hints for driving in various weather conditions.

4-3 Vehicle Design
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation,
utility vehicles have a significantly higher rollover rate
than other types of vehicles. Utility vehicles do have a
higher ground clearance and a narrower track or shorter
wheelbase than passenger cars to make them more
capable for off
-road driving. Specific design
characteristics like these give the driver a better view of
the road, but also give utility vehicles a higher center of
gravity than other types of vehicles. This means that you
shouldn't expect a utility vehicle to handle the same way
a vehicle with a lower center of gravity, like a car, would
in similar situations. But driver behavior factors are far
more often the cause of a utility vehicle rollover than are
environmental or vehicle factors. Safe driver behavior
and understanding the environment in which you'll be
driving can help avoid a rollover crash in any type of
vehicle, including utility vehicles.
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 ªSafety Beltsº in the Index.)
Defensive driving really means ªbe ready for anything.º
On city streets, rural roads or freeways, it means
ªalways expect the unexpected.º
Assume that pedestrians or other 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.
Defensive driving requires that a driver concentrate on the
driving task. Anything that distracts from the driving
task
-- such as concentrating on a cellular telephone call,
reading, or reaching for something on the floor
-- makes
proper defensive driving more difficult and can even cause
a collision, with resulting injury. Ask a passenger to help
do things like this, or pull off the road in a safe place to do
them yourself. These simple defensive driving techniques
could save your life.

4-4
Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is
a national tragedy. It's the number one contributor to the
highway death toll, claiming thousands of victims
every year.
Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive
a vehicle:

Judgment

Muscular Coordination

Vision

Attentiveness.
Police records show that almost half of all motor
vehicle
-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases,
these deaths are the result of someone who was drinking
and driving. In recent years, over 17,000 annual motor
vehicle
-related deaths have been associated with the use
of alcohol, with more than 300,000 people injured.
Many adults
-- by some estimates, nearly half the adult
population
-- choose never to drink alcohol, so they
never drive after drinking. For persons under 21, it's
against the law in every U.S. state to drink alcohol.
There are good medical, psychological and
developmental reasons for these laws.The obvious way to solve the leading highway safety
problem is for people never to drink alcohol and then
drive. But what if people do? How much is ªtoo muchº
if the driver plans to drive? It's a lot less than many
might think. Although it depends on each person and
situation, here is some general information on
the problem.
The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of someone
who is drinking depends upon four things:

The amount of alcohol consumed

The drinker's body weight

The amount of food that is consumed before and
during drinking

The length of time it has taken the drinker to
consume the alcohol.
According to the American Medical Association, a
180
-lb. (82 kg) person who drinks three 12-ounce
(355 ml) bottles of beer in an hour will end up with a
BAC of about 0.06 percent. The person would reach the
same BAC by drinking three 4
-ounce (120 ml) glasses
of wine or three mixed drinks if each had 1
-1/2 ounces
(45 ml) of a liquor like whiskey, gin or vodka.

4-5
It's the amount of alcohol that counts. For example, if
the same person drank three double martinis (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 means that a
woman generally will reach a higher BAC level than a
man of her same body weight when each has the same
number of drinks.
The law in many U.S. states sets the legal limit at a BAC
of 0.10 percent. In a growing number of U.S. states, and
throughout Canada, the limit is 0.08 percent. In some
other countries, it's even lower. The BAC limit for all
commercial drivers in the United States is 0.04 percent.
The BAC will be over 0.10 percent after three to
six drinks (in one hour). Of course, as we've seen, it
depends on how much alcohol is in the drinks, and how
quickly the person drinks them.
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!