Loss Of Control - GMC 1993 Safari Owner's Manual

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Check your mirrors, glance over your shoulder, and start your left lane
change signal before moving out of the right lane to pass. When you
are far enough ahead of the passed vehicle to see its front in your
inside mirror, activate your right lane change signal and move back into
the right lane. (Remember that your right outside mirror is convex. The
vehicle you just passed may seem to be further away from you than it
really is.)
Try not to pass more than one vehicle at a time on two-lane roads.
Reconsider before passing the next vehicle.
Don't overtake a slowly moving vehicle too rapidly. Even though the
brake lights are not flashing, it may be slowing down or starting to turn.
If you're being passed, make it easy for the following driver to get ahead
of you. Perhaps you can ease a little to the right.
Loss of Control
Let's review what driving experts say about what happens when the three
control systems (brakes, steering and acceleration) don't have enough friction
where the tires meet the road to do what the driver has asked.
In any emergency, don't give up. Keep trying to steer, and constantly seek an
escape route or area of less danger.
Skidding
In a skid, a driver can lose control of the vehicle. Defensive drivers avoid
most skids by taking reasonable care suited to existing conditions, and by not
"overdriving" those conditions. But skids are always possible.
The three types of skids correspond to your vehicle's three control systems,
In the braking skid, your wheels aren't rolling. In the steering or cornering
skid, too much speed or steering in a curve causes tires to slip and lose
cornering force. And in the acceleration skid, too much throttle causes the
driving wheels to spin.
A cornering skid and an acceleration skid are best handled by easing your
foot off the accelerator pedal. If your vehicle starts to slide (as when you turn
a corner on a wet, snow- or ice-covered road), ease your foot
off the
accelerator pedal as soon as you feel the vehicle start to slide. Quickly steer
the way you want the vehicle to go. If you start steering quickly enough, your
vehicle will straighten out. As
it
does, straighten the front wheels.
Of
course, traction is reduced when water, snow, ice, gravel, or other material
is on the road. For safety, you'll want to slow down and adjust your driving to
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