1993 Pontiac Sunbird Owner's Manual - Page 118

Driving on Snow Ice or Most of the time, those places where your tires meet road probably have the good traction. However, if there is snow or ice between your tires the road, you and can have a very slippery situation. You'll havea lot less traction or "grip" and will need to be very careful. What's the worst time forthis? "Wet ice.'' Very cold snow or ice can be slick and hard to drive on. But wet icecan be even more trouble because may offer it the least tractionof all. You can get "wet ice" when about freezing it's (32°F;O'C) and freezing rain begins to fall. Try to avoid drivingon wet iceuntil salt and sand crews get there. can 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 wheelswill spin and polish the surface under the tires even more. Your anti-lock brakes improve your ability to make ahard stop ona slippery road. Even though you have the antilock brakingsystem, you'll want to If You're Caught in a Blizzard begin stopping sooner than you would If you are stopped by heavy snow, you on dry pavement. SeeAnti-lock in the could be in a serious situation. You Index. should probably staywith your vehicle Allow greater following distance on unless you know forsure thatyou are any slipperyroad. near help and you can hike through the Watch for slipperyspots. The road snow. Here are some things to do to might be fineuntil you hit a spot summon help and keep yourself and that's covered with ice. On an your passengers safe: Turn on your otherwise clear road, ice patches may hazard flashers. Tie ared cloth to your appear in shaded areas where the sun vehicle to alert police that you've been can't reach: around clumps of trees, stopped by the snow. Put onextra behind buildings, orunder bridges. Sometimes the surface of a curve or an overpass mayremain icy when the surrounding roads are clear. If you see a patch of ice ahead of you, brake before youare on it. not tobrake Try while you're actuallyon the ice, and avoid sudden steering maneuvers. I i