Chevrolet Spark Owners Manual: Braking

Chevrolet Spark Owners Manual / Driving and Operating / Driving Information / Braking

Braking action involves perception time and reaction time. Deciding to push the brake pedal is perception time. Actually doing it is reaction time.

Average driver reaction time is about three-quarters of a second. In that time, a vehicle moving at 100 km/h (60 mph) travels 20m (66 ft), which could be a lot of distance in an emergency.

Helpful braking tips to keep in mind include:

Keep enough distance between you and the vehicle in front of you.
Avoid needless heavy braking.
Keep pace with traffic.

If the engine ever stops while the vehicle is being driven, brake normally but do not pump the brakes. Doing so could make the pedal harder to push down. If the engine stops, there will be some power brake assist but it will be used when the brake is applied.

Once the power assist is used up, it can take longer to stop and the brake pedal will be harder to push.

Drunk Driving

Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is a global tragedy. Warning Drinking and then driving is very dangerous. Your reflexes, perceptions, attentiveness, and judgment can be affec ...

Steering

Electric Power Steering The vehicle has electric power steering. It does not have power steering fluid. Regular maintenance is not required. If power steering assist is lost due to a system malfun ...

Other materials:

Parking Brake
To set the parking brake, hold the brake pedal down and pull up on the parking brake lever. If the ignition is on, the brake system warning light will come on. See Brake System Warning Light on page 5-15. To release the parking brake, hold the brake pedal down. Pull the parking brake leve ...

Loss of Control
Skidding There are three types of skids that correspond to the vehicle's three control systems: Braking Skid - wheels are not rolling. Steering or Cornering Skid - too much speed or steering in a curve causes tires to slip and lose cornering force. Acceleration Skid - too much thro ...

Exterior Lighting
The exterior lamp control is on the turn signal lever on the left side of the steering column. There are four positions: Turns on the headlamps together with the parking lamps and instrument panel lights. Turns on the parking lamps including all lamps, except the headlamps. Turns the ...