121GETTING THE BEST OUT OF YOUR VEHICLE
– Do not drive too many hours at a
time but stop at intervals to stretch
your legs and recoup your energy;
– make sure the air in the passenger’s
compartment is being changed
continuously;
– never coast downhill (i.e. with the
engine off): if you do, you lose the aid
of engine braking, power brakes and
power steering so that braking re-
quires greater effort on the pedal and
steering requires greater effort on the
steering wheel.DRIVING AT NIGHT
These are the main rules to follow
when you are driving at night:
– drive especially carefully: it is hard-
er to drive at night;
– slow down especially if the road is
not lit;
– at the first signs of sleepiness, stop:
continuing would be a risk for yourself
and everybody else. Only start driving
again when you have had enough rest;
– keep a greater safety distance from
the vehicles in front of you than dur-
ing daylight hours: it is hard to judge
how fast other vehicles are going when
all you can see are their lights;
– make sure the headlights beams are
properly positioned: if they are too
low, they reduce visibility and strain
your eyes. If they are too high they can
dazzle other drivers. Adjust headlight
beam according to transported load;
– only use main beam headlights
when you are driving outside town
and when you are sure they do not an-
noy other drivers. dip your headlights
Water, ice or salt sprinkled
on the road can deposit on
the brake discs and reduce effi-
ciency of the first braking.
WARNING
Do not drive with objects
on the floor in front of the
driver’s seat: they could caught un-
der the pedals making braking or
accelerating impossible.
WARNING
Pay attention to the mats:
even a small problem to the
braking system may require in-
creased brake pedal stroke with re-
spect to normal.
WARNING
122GETTING THE BEST OUT OF YOUR VEHICLE
as soon as you see vehicles coming in
the other direction and pass them with
the headlights dipped;
– keep all lights clean;
– be careful of animals crossing the
road when driving in the country. Slow
down to avoid the risk of running
them over.
DRIVING IN THE RAIN
Rain and wet road surfaces spell dan-
ger. All manoeuvres are more difficult
on a wet road because the grip of the
wheels on the tarmac is greatly re-
duced. This is why braking distances
are much longer and road-holding is
lower.
Here is some advice for driving in the
rain:
– reduce speed and maintain a
greater safety distance from the vehi-
cles in front;
– If it is raining particularly heavily,
visibility is also reduced. In these cas-
es, switch on the dipped headlights
even if it is still daylight so you can be
seen more easily;– Do not drive through puddles at
speed and hold on tightly to the wheel
if you do: a puddle taken at high speed
might cause you to lose control of the
vehicle (aquaplaning);
– Position the ventilation controls for
demisting (see section “Getting to
know your vehicle”), to prevent visi-
bility from worsening;
– Routinely check the conditions of
the windscreen wiper blades.
DRIVING IN FOG
– If the fog is thick, do not start out
on a journey unless you absolutely
have to.
If driving in mist, blanket fog or when
there is the danger of fog patches:
– keep your speed down;
– turn on the dipped headlights, rear
fog lights and front fog lights, if fitted,
even during the day. Do not drive with
your headlights at main beam.IMPORTANT On stretches of
road with good visibility, switch off
your rear foglights; the brightness of
these lights could annoy the people
travelling in the vehicles behind.
– Remember that fog also means the
taramac is wet and therefore ma-
noeuvres of all kinds are more difficult
and stopping distances are longer;
– keep a good distance from the ve-
hicles in front of you;
– as far as possible, avoid spurts of
speed or sudden deceleration;
– do not overtake other vehicles if
possible;
