2008 Cadillac STS Owner's Manual - Page 281

Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is a global tragedy. Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive a vehicle: judgment, muscular coordination, vision, and attentiveness. Police records show that almost 40 percent of all motor vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases, these deaths are the result of someone who was drinking and driving. In recent years, more than 17,000 annual motor vehicle-related deaths have been associated with the use of alcohol, with about 250,000 people injured. For persons under 21, it is against the law in every U.S. state to drink alcohol. There are good medical, psychological, and developmental reasons for these laws. The obvious way to eliminate the leading highway safety problem is for people never to drink alcohol and then drive. Medical research shows that alcohol in a person's system can make crash injuries worse, especially injuries to the brain, spinal cord, or heart. This means that when anyone who has been drinking - driver or passenger - is in a crash, that person's chance of being killed or permanently disabled is higher than if the person had not been drinking. Control of a Vehicle The following three systems help to control your vehicle while driving - brakes, steering, and accelerator. At times, as when driving on snow or ice, it is easy to ask more of those control systems than the tires and road can provide. Meaning, you can lose control of your vehicle. See Traction Control System (TCS) on page 4-6 and StabiliTrak® System on page 4-8 or Enhanced StabiliTrak® on page 4-9. Adding non-dealer/non-retailer accessories can affect your vehicle's performance. See Accessories and Modifications on page 5-3. 4-3