1993 Pontiac Bonneville Owner's Manual - Page 151

Your Driving and the Road Defensive Driving Expect other drivers to run stop signs The best advice anyonecan give about when you are on a through street. Be driving is: Drive defensively. Please start with a very important safety ready to brake if necessary as you go device in your Pontiac: Buckle up. (See through intersections. You may not have to use the brake, but ifyou do, you will the Index under Safev Belts.) be ready. Defensive driving really means "be If you're driving through a shopping ready for anything." On city streets, center parking lot wherethere are wellrural roads, or freeways, it means marked lanes, directional arrows, and "always expect the unexpected." designated parking areas, expect some Assume that pedestriansor other drivers drivers to ignore all thesemarkings and are going to be careless and make dash straight toward one part of the lot. mistakes. Anticipate what they might Pedestrians can be careless. Watch for do. Be ready for their mistakes. them. In general, you must give way to Expect children to dash out from behind pedestrians even if you know you have parked cars, often followed by other the right of way. children. Expect occupants in parked cars to open doors into traffic. Watch for Rear-end collisions are about the most preventable of accidents. Yet they are movement in parked cars-someone common. Allow enough following may be about to open a door. distance. It's the best defensive driving maneuver, in both city and rural driving. You never know when the vehicle in frontof you is going to brake or turn suddenly. Here's a final bitof information about defensive driving. The most dangerous time for driving in the U.S. is very early on Sunday morning. In fact, GM Research studies show that the most and the least dangerous times for driving, every week, fall on the same That day. day is Sunday. The most dangerous time is Sunday from 3a.m. to 4 a.m. The safest time is Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Driving the same distance on a Sunday at 3 a.m. isn't just a little more dangerous than it is at10 a.m. It's about 134 times more dangerous! That leads to the section. next