1993 Oldsmobile Silhouette Owner's Manual - Page 146

Your Driving and the Road Defensive Driving Expect other drivers to run stop signs The best advice anyone can give about when you are on a throughstreet. Be driving is: Drive defensively. Please start with a very important safety ready to brake if necessaryas you go through intersections. Youmay not have device in yourOldsmobile: Buckle up. to use the brake, but if you do, you will (See the Index under Safety 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 these markings and are going to becareless and make dash straight toward part of the lot. one 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 from behind pedestrians even if you know you have out parked cars, often followed by other the right of way. children. Expect occupantsin parked cars to open doors into traffic. Watch for Rear-end collisionsare 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 whenthe vehicle in front of 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 day. That day is Sunday. The most dangerous time is Sunday from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. The safest time is Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Driving the same distanceon a Sunday at 3 a.m. isn't just a little more dangerous than it isat 10 a.m. It's about 134 times more dangerous! That leads to the next section.