Owner's Manual

Your Driving and the Road
There’s something else about drinking
and driving that many people don’t know.
Medical research shows that alcohol in a
person’s system can make crash injuries
worse. That’s especially 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.
. . .124
Control of a Vehicle
You have three systems that make your
vehicle
go where you want it to go. They
are the brakes, the steering and the
accelerator. All three systems have to do
their work at the places where the tires
meet the road.
Sometimes, as when you’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.
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 time is about
314 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, and eyesight all
play a part.
So do alcohol, drugs and
frustration. But even in
314 of a second,
a vehicle moving at
60 mph (100 km/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 greatly with the surface of the road
(whether it’s pavement or gravel); the
condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire
tread; and the condition of your brakes.
Avoid needless heavy braking. Some
people drive in spurts
- heavy
acceleration followed by heavy braking
- rather than keeping pace with traffic.