HANDLING EMERGENCIES

1
CHAPTER 13

• HANDLING EMERGENCIES

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CHAPTER 13

• HANDLING EMERGENCIES
• 13.1 VEHICLE MALFUNCTIONS
• 13.2 DRIVER ERRORS
• 13.3 ROADWAY HAZARDS
• 13.4 COLLISIONS

3
TIRE FAILURE

• BLOWOUT
• when a tire has a sudden loss of air pressure.
• Grip wheel firmly
• Ease off accelerator, do not brake!
• Check traffic, gain control
• Drive off slowly, brake gently
• Turn on flasher, stop in safe location

4
CHANGING THE TIRE

• Park on level ground, shift to park and turn on
  hazards
• Set parking brake
• Block wheel diagonally opposite flat tire
• Ask passengers to get out
• Spare tire, jack, and lug wrench
• Position jack under vehicle
• Jack up part way, flat tire should touch the
  ground
• Remove wheel cover, loosen lug nuts
• Jack up until tire is off ground
• Remove lug nuts and wheel
• Put spare on
• Tighten lug nuts
• Lower to ground, tighten lug nuts again

5
TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE

• Pump brake pedal
• Downshift
• Gradually apply parking brake
• Search for open zone

6
BRAKE FADE

• When brakes overheat and lose their effectiveness
• Stop the vehicle and let the brakes cool off

7
ACCELERATOR MALFUNCTIONS

• BROKEN SPRINGS
• Accelerator pedal will be flat on the floor
• Shift to neutral
• Hazards
• Brake safely off the road

8
ACCELERATOR MALFUNCTIONS

• STUCK ACCELERATOR
• Kick side of accelerator to try and free it
• Apply brake
• Choose escape path
• Shift to neutral
• Turn off ignition once off the roadway

9
ENGINE FAILURE

• Shift to neutral
• Move out of traffic
• Try to restart engine while moving
• Raise hood and flashers on

10
FLOODED ENGINE

• Hold accelerator to floor while starting
• Turn ignition and hold for a few seconds
• Try again in a few more seconds

11
OVERHEATED ENGINE

• Turn off air conditioner
• Turn on heater
• During stops shift to neutral
• If temp light stay hot, move off road, stop car
  and raise hood

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TOTAL STEERING FAILURE

• Use horn and flashers
• Stop quickly and safely
• Use p-brake on-off-on-off
• Shift to lower gear

13
POWER STEERING FAILURE

• Occurs when engine dies
• When steering fluid is low
• When drive belt slips or brakes
• Steering still works but you must use more force

14
LOSS OF VISION

• HOOD FLIES UP
• Slouch down, look trough crack under hood
• Or roll down window look where you are going
• Turn on hazards, pump brakes
• Slow down, drive out of traffic

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LOSS OF VISION

• HEADLIGHTS FAIL
• Turn on right signal to light escape path
• Immediately slow down and stop
• Try dimmer switch, parking lights, and hazards
• Move to safe location

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LOSS OF VISION

• SPLASHED WINDSHEILD
• Snow, slush, water, mud
• Turn on wipers immediately
• Slow gradually maintain path until regain sight

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VEHICLE FIRE

• ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE
• Steer off turn off car
• Passengers 100 feet away
• If fire is large - Do not try to put fire out
• If fire is small use A-B-C extinguisher

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VEHICLE FIRE

• PASSENGER COMPARTMENT FIRE
• Usually caused by careless match use or smoking
• Pull off and extinguish

19
STALLS ON RAILROAD TRACKS

• Try and restart if no train is coming
• Passengers out
• Shift to neutral and push off tracks
• If train is coming, move away in direction train
  is coming

20
DRIVER ERRORS

• DRIVING OFF THE ROAD
• When front wheel leaves edge of roadway
• Many fatal collisions because drivers brake and
  suddenly return to roadway

21
OFF ROAD RECOVERY

• Hold wheel firmly, let up on accelerator, do not
  brake fast!
• Straddle roadway
• Select place where shoulder is close to roadway
  level
• Signal mirrors and blindspot
• Steer sharply and counter steer quickly to
  straighten

22
EMERGENCY SWERVING

• Last second means of avoiding a collision
• Only when braking will not prevent collision
• Speeds over 30MPH you can usually swerve in less
  distance than you needed to stop

23
STOP VS. SWERVE DECISION

• Must be sure open zones
• Must know your speed and vehicle abilities

24
EXECUTING EMERGENCY SWERVE

• Identify escape path
• Grip wheel firmly as you steer
• Use same rhythmic motion to steer and counter
  steer

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HOW SHARPLY TO SWERVE

• Speed and distance
• As speed increases the less time you have

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ROADWAY HAZARDS

• POTHOLES
• Avoid them if possible
• If not slow down to prevent tire damage
• Try and predict where it will be the most shallow

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ROADWAY HAZARDS

• SHARP CURVES
• Brake gently as you enter
• Half way through look ahead and start to
  accelerate gently

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ROADWAY HAZARDS

• OBJECTS ON THE ROAD
• Check traffic
• Decide whether to straddle or swerve around
  object
• Drive over an object only as a last resort
• You may not know what is inside and object!

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• VEHICLE IN DEEP WATER
• OPEN WINDOW THAT IS MOST OUT OF WATER
• UNFASTEN BELTS AND CHECK PASSENGERS
• EXIT PROMPTLY THROUGH OPEN WINDOW
• IF WINDOWS ARE STUCK WAIT UNTIL PRESSURE
  EQUALIZES AND THEN OPEN DOOR

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COLLISIONS

• MINIMIZING EFFECTS OF COLLISION
• NEVER GIVE UP, KEEP CONTROL OF YOUR VEHICLE
• STEER FOR SOMETHING SOFT
• IF CHANCE FOR ANOTHER COLLISION, GET EVERYBODY
  OUT AND SAFELY AWAY

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HEAD ON COLLISIONS

• BRAKE HARD BUT DO NOT LOCK UP TIRES
• BLOW HORN AND FLASH LIGHTS
• STEER RIGHT TOWARD SHOULDER, DO NOT STEER LEFT!

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SIDE-IMPACT COLLISIONS

• BRAKE OR ACCELERATE QUICKLY, WHICH EVER LESSEN
  IMPACT INTO PASSENGER COMPARTMENT
• BLOW HORN
• CHANGE LANES OR SWERVE AWAY FROM IMPACT
• BE AWARE OF TRAFFIC AROUND YOU

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REAR-END COLLISIONS

• FLASH BRAKE LIGHTS
• CHECK FOR OPEN ZONES
• IF INTERSECTION IS CLEAR ACCELERATE TO GIVE SPACE
• IF UNAVOIDABLE, RELEASE BRAKES JUST BEFORE IMPACT
  TO LESSEN

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IF YOU HAVE COLLISION

• STOP IMMEDIATELY
• AID TO INJURED, NEVER MOVE UNLESS THERE IS THREAT
  OF ANOTHER COLLISION
• PREVENT FURTHER DAMAGE
• SEND FOR POLICE
• EXCHANGE INFORMATION

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ADDITIONAL STEPS

• RECORD WITNESSES NAMES AND ADDRESSES
• GIVE POLICE JUST FACTS
• FILE NECESSARY REPORTS