1998 Buick Park Avenue Owner's Manual - Page 204

Defensive drivingredly means "be ready for mything." On city streets, rural roads or freeways, it means "always expect the unexpected."' Assume that pedestrians or other drivers are going to be careless and make mistakes. Anticipate what they might do. Be ready fortheir mistakes. Rear-end collisions are about the most preventable of accidents. Yet they are common. Allow enough following distance. It's the best defensive driving maneuver, in both city and wd driving. You never know when the vehicle in front of you is going to brake or suddenly. Defensive driving requires that a driver concentrate on the driving task. Anything that distracts from the driving task -- such as concentrating on a cellular telephone call, reading, or reaching for somethingon the floor -- makes proper defensive driving more difficult and can even cause collision, with resulting a injury. Ask a passengerto help do things like this, or pull off the road in a safe place to do them yourself. These simple defensive driving techniques coukl save your Me. The best advice anyone can give about driving is: Drive defensively. Please start with a very important safety device in your Buick: Buckle up. (See "'Safety Belts" in the Index.) 4-2