Pontiac 2003 Aztek - Braking in Emergencies; Traction Control System (TCS)

Braking in Emergencies
At some time, nearly every driver gets into a situation
that requires hard braking.
If you have anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the
same time. However,
if you don’t have anti-lock,
your first reaction
- to hit the brake pedal hard and hold
it down
- may be the wrong thing to do. Your wheels
can stop rolling. Once they do, the vehicle can’t respond
to your steering. Momentum will carry it in whatever
direction it was headed when the wheels stopped rolling.
That could be
off the road, into the very thing you
were trying
to avoid, or into traffic.
If you don’t have anti-lock, use a “squeeze” braking
technique. This will give you maximum braking while
maintaining steering control. You can do this by pushing
on the brake pedal with steadily increasing pressure.
In an emergency, you will probably want
to squeeze the
brakes hard without locking the wheels. If you hear or
feel the wheels sliding, ease
off the brake pedal.
This will help you retain steering control. If you
do have
anti-lock, it’s different. See “Anti-Lock Brakes.”
Traction Control System (TCS)
Your vehicle may have a traction control system that
limits wheel spin. This is especially useful in slippery
road conditions. The system operates only
if it senses
that one or both of the front wheels are spinning or
beginning to lose traction. When this happens,
the system works the front brakes and reduces engine
power
to limit wheel spin.
The TRACTION ACTIVE message will come on when
the traction control system is limiting wheel spin.
See
Traction Active Message on page 3-41. You may
feel or hear the system working, but this is normal.
If your vehicle is in cruise control when the traction
control system begins
to limit wheel spin, the cruise
control will automatically disengage. When road
conditions allow you
to safely use it again, you may
reengage the cruise control. See “Cruise Control’’ under
Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever on page 3-7.
In many emergencies, steering can help you more than
even the very best braking.
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