1994 Oldsmobile Achieva Owner's Manual - Page 128

Your Driving and the Road true for brain, spinal cord and heart injuries. That means that if anyone who has been drinking - driver or passenger - is in a crash,the chance of being killed or permanently disabled is higher than if that person had not been drinking. And we've already seen that the chance of a crash itself is higher for drinking drivers. I 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 timeis about % 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, andeyesight all play a part. So do alcohol, drugs and frustration. But even in X of a second, a vehicle moving at 60 rnph (100 lun/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 greatlywith the surface of the road (whether it's pavement or gravel); the condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire tread; andthe condition of your brakes. I Control of a Vehicle You have three systems that make your vehicle gowhere you want it to go. They are the brakes, the steering and the accelerator. All three systems have to dotheir work at theplaces where the tires meet the road. Sometimes, as whenyou'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 lose control of your vehicle. 126