1996 Pontiac Firebird Owner's Manual - Page 167

Avoid needless heavy bralung. Some people drive in spurts --.heavy acceleration followed by heavy braking -- rather than keeping pace wt traffic. This is a ih mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool b'etween hard stops. Your brakes will wear out much faster if you do a lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace with the traffic and allow realistic following distances, you will eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking. That means better braking and longer brake life. Anti-Lock Brakes Your vehicle has anti-lock brakes (ABS). A B S is an advanced electronic braking system that will help prevent a braking skid. When you start your engine, or when you begin to drive away, your anti-lock brake system will check itself. You may hear a momentary motor or clickingnoise while this test is going on, and you ,may even notice that your brake pedal moves a little. This is normal. If your engine ever stops while you're driving, brake normally but don'tpump your brakes. If you do, the pedal may get harder to push down. If your engine stops, you will still. have some power brake assist. But you will useit when you brake. Once the power assist is used up, It may take longer to stop and the brake pedal , will be harder to push. , . If there's a problem with the anti-lock brake system, this ABS INOP warning light will stay on or flash, See "Anti-Lock Brake System Warning Light" in the Index. 4-6