1995 Cadillac Eldorado Owner's Manual - Page 192

CONTROL OF A VEHICLE You have three systems that make your vehicle go where you want it to go. They are thebrakes, the steering and the accelerator. All three systems have to do their work at theplaces where the tires meet the road. . . -. Sometimes, aswhen you're driving on snow or ice, it's easy to ask more of those control systems than the tires and road provide. That means you can can lose control of your vehicle. BRAKING Braking action involves perception time and reaction time. First, you have to decide to push on the brakepedal. That'sperception time. Then you have to bring upyour foot and do it. That's reaction time. Average reaction time isabout 314 of a second. But that's only an average. It might be less with one driver and aslong as two or threeseconds or and more with another. Age, physical condition, alertness, coordination, eyesight all play a part. So do alcohol, drugs and frustration.But even in 3/4 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 spacebetween your vehicle and others is important. distances vary greatly with the surface of And, of course, actual stopping the road (whetherit's pavement or gravel); the condition of the road (wet, dry, icy);tire tread;and the condition of your brakes. 4-5