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Suppose you’re steering through a sharp curve.
Then you suddenly accelerate. Both control
systems
-
steering and braking
-
have to do their work
where the tires meet the road. Unless you have
four-wheel anti-lock brakes, adding the hard braking can
demand too much of those places. You can lose
control.
The same thing can happen
if
you’re steering through
a
sharp curve and you suddenly accelerate. Those two
control systems
-
steering and acceleration
-
can
overwhelm those places where the tires meet the road
and make you lose control. See
Enhanced Traction
System
(ETS)
on
page
4-9.
What should you do
if
this ever happens? Ease up on
the brake or accelerator pedal, steer the vehicle the way
you want it to go, and slow down.
Speed limit signs near curves warn that you should
adjust your speed. Of course, the posted speeds
are based on good weather and road conditions. Under
less favorable conditions you’ll want to go slower.
If
you need to reduce your speed as you approach a
curve, do it before you enter the curve, while your front
wheels are straight ahead.
Try
to adjust your speed so you can “drive” through the
curve. Maintain a reasonable, steady speed. Wait to
accelerate until you are out of the curve, and then
accelerate gently into the straightaway.
Steering in Emergencies
There are times when steering can be more effective
than braking. For example, you come over a
hill
and find
a truck stopped in your lane, or a car suddenly pulls
out from nowhere, or a child darts out from between
parked cars and stops right
in
front of you. You
can avoid these problems by braking
-
if
you can stop
in time. But sometimes you can’t; there isn’t room.
That’s the time for evasive action
-
steering around the
problem.
Your vehicle can perform very well in emergencies like
these. First apply your brakes
-
but, unless you
have anti-lock, not enough to lock your wheels.
See
Braking
on
page
4-6.
It
is
better to remove as much
speed as you can from a possible collision. Then
steer around the problem, to the left or right depending
on the space available.
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