1994 Oldsmobile Achieva Owner's Manual - Page 141

You may want to put winter emergency suppliesin your trunk. Include an ice scraper, a small brush or broom, a supply windshield washer of fluid, a rag, some winter outer clothing, a small shovel, a flashlight, a red cloth, and a coupleof reflective warning triangles. And, if you will be driving under severe conditions, include a small bag of sand, a piece of old carpet or a couple of burlap bags to help provide traction. Be sure you properly secure these items in your vehicle. Driving on Snow or Ice Most of the time, those places where your tires meet the road probably have good traction. However, if there is snow or ice between your tires and the road, you can have a very slippery situation. You'll have a lot less traction or "grip" and will need to be very careful. What's the worst time for this? "Wet ice." Very cold snow or ice be slick can and hard to drive on. But wet icecan be even moretrouble because it may offer the least traction of all. You can get "wet ice" when it's about freezing (32°F;0°C) and freezing rain begins to fall. Tryto avoid drivingon wet iceuntil salt and sand crews can getthere. Whatever the condition - smooth ice, packed, blowing or loose snow drive with caution. Accelerate gently. Try not to break the fragile traction. If you accelerate too fast, the drive wheels will spin and polish the surface under the tires even more. Your anti-lock brakes improve your ability to make a hard stop a slippery on road. Even though you have anti-lock the braking system, you'll want begin to stopping soonerthan you wouldon dry pavement. SeeAnti-lock in the Index. Allow greater following distanceon any slippery road. Watch for slipperyspots. The road might be fine until you hit a spot that's covered with ice. On an otherwise clearroad, ice patchesmay appear in shaded areas where sun the can't reach:around clumps of trees, behind buildings, or under bridges. Sometimes the surface of a curve or an overpass may remain icy when the surrounding roads are clear. If you see a patchof ice aheadof you, brake before you are on it. Try not to brake while you're actually theice, and on avoid sudden steering maneuvers. 139