Off-road recovery, Passing, Road recovery – Oldsmobile 2000 Bravada User Manual

Page 167

Advertising
background image

4-12

An emergency like this requires close attention and a
quick decision. If you are holding the steering wheel at
the recommended 9 and 3 o’clock positions, you can
turn it a full 180 degrees very quickly without removing
either hand. But you have to act fast, steer quickly, and
just as quickly straighten the wheel once you have
avoided the object.

The fact that such emergency situations are always
possible is a good reason to practice defensive driving at
all times and wear safety belts properly.

Off

-

Road Recovery

You may find that your right wheels have dropped
off the edge of a road onto the shoulder while
you’re driving.

If the level of the shoulder is only slightly below the
pavement, recovery should be fairly easy. Ease off the
accelerator and then, if there is nothing in the way, steer
so that your vehicle straddles the edge of the pavement.
You can turn the steering wheel up to one

-

quarter turn

until the right front tire contacts the pavement edge.
Then turn your steering wheel to go straight down
the roadway.

Passing

The driver of a vehicle about to pass another on a
two

-

lane highway waits for just the right moment,

accelerates, moves around the vehicle ahead, then goes
back into the right lane again. A simple maneuver?

Not necessarily! Passing another vehicle on a two

-

lane

highway is a potentially dangerous move, since the
passing vehicle occupies the same lane as oncoming
traffic for several seconds. A miscalculation, an error in
judgment, or a brief surrender to frustration or anger can
suddenly put the passing driver face to face with the
worst of all traffic accidents

--

the head

-

on collision.

Advertising