2011 Jeep Patriot Owner Manual - Page 310

308 STARTING AND OPERATING Driving Across An Incline and hill descent braking to control the descent and apply If at all possible avoid driving across an incline. If it is your brakes if necessary, but do not allow the tires to lock. necessary, know your vehicle's abilities. Driving across WARNING! an incline places more weight on the down-hill wheels, which increases the possibilities of a down-hill slide or If the engine stalls or you lose headway or cannot rollover. Make sure the surface has good traction with make it to the top of a steep hill or grade, never firm and stable soils. If possible transverse the incline at attempt to turn around. To do so may result in an angle heading slightly up or down. tipping and rolling the vehicle, which may result in severe injury. Always back carefully straight down a WARNING! hill in REVERSE gear. Never back down a hill in Driving across an incline increases the risk of a NEUTRAL using only the vehicle brakes. Never rollover, which may result in severe injury. drive diagonally across a hill, always drive straight up or down. If You Stall Or Begin To Lose Headway If you stall or begin to lose headway while climbing a Driving Through Water steep hill, allow your vehicle to come to a stop and Extreme care should be taken crossing any type of water. immediately apply the brake. Restart the engine and shift Water crossings should be avoided if possible, and only to REVERSE. Back slowly down the hill allowing engine be attempted when necessary in a safe responsible manner. You should only drive through areas which are