1995 Chevrolet Lumina Owner's Manual - Page 133

Control of a Vehicle You have three systems that make your vehiclewhere go you want it to go. They are the brakes, the steering and the accelerator. All three systems have do their work to at the places where the tires meet the road. Braking Braking action involvesperception time and reaction time. First, you have to decide push on the brake pedal. to That's perception time. Then you have to bring up your foot and doit. That's reaction time. Average reaction timeis about 3/4 of a second. But that's only an average. It might be less with one driver and as long as two or three seconds or more with another. Age, physical condition, alertness, coordination, and eyesightall play a part.So do alcohol, drugs and frustration. But even 314 of a second, a vehicle in moving at 60 mph (100 km/h) travels 66 feet (20 m). That could be a lot distance in an emergency, of so keeping enough space between your vehicle and others is important. And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly with the surface the road (whether it's pavement or of gravel); the condition the road (wet, dry, icy); tire of tread; and the condition your brakes. of Sometimes, as when you're driving on snow ice, it's or easy to ask more those control systems than the tires of and road can provide. That means you can control lose of your vehicle. 4-5