1996 Buick Park Avenue Owner's Manual - Page 179

Control of a Vehicle You have three systems that make your vehicle go where steering and you want it to go. They are the brakes, the the acceIerator. All three systems have to do their work at the places where the tires meet the road. Braking Braking action involves perception time and reaction time. First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal. Then you have to bring up your That's perception time. foot and do it.That's reaction time. Average reaction time is about3/4 of a second. But that's only anaverage. It might be less with one driver and as long as two orthree 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 3/4 a second, a vehicle of moving at 6O~mph (I00 h htravels'66 feet(20 m). / ) That could be a lot distance in an emergency, so of keeping enough space between your vehicle and others is important. And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly with the surfaceof the road(whether it's pavement or gravel); the conditionof the road (wet, dry, icy); tire tread; and the condition your brakes. of Sometimes, aswhen you're driving on snow or ice,it's easy to ask more of those controlsystems than the tires and road can provide. Thatmeans you can lose control of your vehicle.