1998 Chevrolet Prizm Owner's Manual - Page 158

Control of a Vehicle You have three systems that make your vehicle go where you want it to go. They are the brakes, the steering and the accelerator. All three systems have to their work do at the places where tires meet the road. the Braking Braking actioninvolves perception time and reaction time. First, you have todecide to pushon the brake pedal. That's perception time. Then you haveto bring up your 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 one driver and as longas two or three seconds or more with another. Age, physical condition, alertness, coordination and eyesight all play part. So do alcohol, drugs and a frustration. But even in3/4 of a second, a vehicle moving at 60 mph (100 k / ) m htravels 66 feet (20 m). That could bea lot of distance in an emergency,so keeping enough space between your vehicle and others is important. And, of course, actual stoppingdistances vary greatly pavement or with the surface of the road (whether it's gravel); the condition of the road (wet,dry, icy); tire tread; the conditionof your brakes; the weightof the vehicle andthe amount of brake force applied. Sometimes, as when you're driving on snow or ice, it's easy to ask more of those control systems than the tires and roadcan provide. That means you can lose control of your vehicle.