1996 Pontiac Grand Am Owner's Manual - Page 153

Control of a Vehicle You have three systems that make your vehiclewhere go you wantit to go. They are the brakes, steering and the the accelerator. All three systems havedo their work to a the places where the tires meet the road. t Braking Braking action involves perception timeand reaction time. First, you have to decide to push on brake pedal. the That's perception time.Then you have to bring your up foot and do it. That's reaction time. Average reaction time is about 3/4 of a second. But that's only an average. It might be less with driver one 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 in 3/4 of a second, a vehicle moving at 60 mph (100 h htravels 66 feet (20 m). / ) That could be a lot of distance in an emergency, so keeping enough space between your vehicle and others is important. And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly of with the surface the road (whether it's pavement or 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 orice, it's easy toask more of those control systems than the tires and road can provide. That means you can lose control of your vehicle. 4-5 , . I