1993 Oldsmobile 88 Owner's Manual - Page 163

Your Driving and the Road Steering Tips-Driving on Curves good weather and road conditions. the curve is banked, and your speed. Under less favorable conditions you'll While you're in a curve, speed is the want to go slower. one factor you cancontrol. If you need to reduce your speed you as Suppose you're steering through a sharp approach a curve, doit before you enter the curve, while your front wheels are curve. Then you suddenly accelerate. Those two control systems-steering straight ahead. and acceleration-can overwhelm those Try to adjust your speedso you can places where the tires meet the road and "drive" through the curve. Maintain a make you lose control. reasonable, steady speed. Wait to What should you do if this ever accelerate untilyou are out of the curve, happens? Let up on the brake or and then accelerate gently into the accelerator pedal, steer the vehicle the straightaway. way you want it to go, and slow down. When you drive into a curve at night, of Speed limit signs near curves warn that it's harder to see the road ahead you you should adjust your speed. Of because it bendsaway from the straight course, the posted speeds are based on beams of your lights. This is one good reason to drive slower. (CONT.) Steering in Emergencies There are times when steering can be more effective than braking. For examp you come over a hill and find truck a stopped in your lane, or a car suddenly pulls out from nowhere, a child darts or out from between parked cars and stops right in frontof you. You can avoid these problemsby braking-if you can stop in time. But sometimes you can't; there isn't room. That's the time fbr ev action-steering around the problem. Your Oldsmobile can perform very well in emergencies like these. First apply your brakes. It is better to remove as much speed as you can from a possible collision. Then steer around the problem, to the leftor right depending on the space available. 162