Pontiac 1993 Grand Am Owner's Manual page 127

Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about
driving is: Drive defensively.
Please start with a very important safety
device in your Pontiac: Buckle up. (See
the Index under Safety Belts.)
Defensive driving really means "be
ready for anything." On city streets,
rural roads, or freeways, it means
"always expect the unexpected
."
Assume that pedestrians or other drivers
are going to be careless and make
mistakes. Anticipate what they might
do. Be ready for their mistakes.
Expect children to dash out from behind
parked cars, often followed
by
other
children. Expect occupants in parked
cars to open doors into traffic. Watch for
movement in parked cars-someone
may be about to open a door.
1 2 6
Expect other drivers to run stop signs
when you are on a through street. Be
ready to brake if necessary as you go
through intersections. You may not have
to use the brake, but if you do, you will
be ready.
If you're driving through a shopping
center parking lot where there are well-
marked lanes, directional arrows, and
designated parking areas, expect some
drivers to ignore all these markings and
dash straight toward one part of the lot.
Pedestrians canbe careless. Watch for
them. In general, you must give way to
pedestrians even if you know you have
the right of way.
Rear-end collisions are about the most
preventable of accidents. Yet they are
common. Allow enough following
distance. It's the best defensive driving
maneuver, in both city and rural
driving. You never know when the
vehicle in front of you is going to brake
or turn suddenly.
Here's a final bit of 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
1 1 a.m. Driving the same distance on a
Sunday at 3 a.m. isn't just a little more
dangerous than it is at 1 0 a.m. It's about
134 times more dangerous!
That leads to the next section.