1994 Oldsmobile Achieva Owner's Manual - Page 132

Your Driving and the Road Your Oldsmobile can perform very well in emergencies like these. First apply your brakes. It is betterto remove as much speed as you can from a possible collision. Then steer around the problem, to theleft or right depending on the space available. An emergency like this requires close attention and aquick decision. If you are holding the steering wheel at the recommended 9 and 3 o'clock positions, you can turn it a full 180 degrees very quicltly without removing either hand. But you have to act fast, steer quickly, and just as quickly straighten the wheel once you have avoided the object. The fact that such emergency situations are always possible is a good reason to practice defensive driving at all times and wear safety belts properly. Passing The driver of a vehicle about to pass another on a two-lane highway waits for just the right moment, accelerates, moves around thevehicle ahead, then goes back into the right lane again. A simple maneuver? Not necessarily! Passing another vehicle on a two-lane highway is a potentially dangerous move, since the passing vehicle occupies the same lane as oncoming traffic for several seconds. A miscalculation, an error in judgment, or a brief surrender to frustration or anger can suddenly put the passing driver face to face with the worst of all traffic accidents - the head-on collision. So here are some tips for passing: "Drive ahead." Look down the road, to the sides, and tocrossroads for situations that might affect your passing patterns. If you have any doubt whatsoever about malting a successful pass, wait for a better time. Watch for traffic signs, pavement markings, and lines. If you can see a sign up ahead that might indicate a turn or an intersection, delay your IOff-Road Recovery t'ou may find sometime that your right vheels have dropped off the edge of a Uoad onto the shoulder while you're iriving. f the level of the shoulder is only ;lightly belowthe pavement, recovery ;hould be fairly easy. Ease off the tccelerator and then,if there is nothing n the way, steer so that your vehicle Itraddles the edge of the pavement. You :an turn the steering wheel up to 1/4 urn until the right front tire contacts he pavement edge. Then turn your S;teeringwheel to go straight down the rmoadway. 130