1996 Oldsmobile Achieva Owner's Manual - Page 154

Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive in spurts -- heavy acceleration followed by heavy This braking -- rather than keeping pace with traffic. is a mistake. Your brakes may nothave 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. Anti-Lock Brakes 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, or when you 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 goingon, and you may even notice that your brake pedal moves a little. This is normal, If your engine ever stops while you're driving, brake normally but don'tpump 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, itmay take longer to stop and the brake pedal will be harder to push. If there's a problem with the anti-lock brake system, this warning light will stayon. See "Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light" in the Index.