Toyota RAV 4 2019, Manual, Page: 173 / 728

173
4-1. Before driving
4
Driving
WARNING
■ When driving the vehicle
● Do not drive if you are unfamil-
iar with the location of the brake
and accelerator pedals to avoid
depressing the wrong pedal.
• Accidentally depressing the
accelerator pedal instead of the
brake pedal will result in sudden
acceleration that may lead to an
accident.
• When backing up, you may twist
your body around, leading to a
difficulty in operating the pedals.
Make sure to operate the pedals
properly.
• Make sure to keep a correct
driving posture even when mov-
ing the vehicle only slightly. This
allows you to depress the brake
and accelerator pedals properly.
• Depress the brake pedal using
your right foot. Depressing the
brake pedal using your left foot
may delay response in an emer-
gency, resulting in an accident.
● Do not drive the vehicle over or
stop the vehicle near flammable
materials such as leaves, paper
or rags.
The exhaust system and
exhaust gases can be
extremely hot. These hot parts
may cause a fire if there is any
flammable material nearby.
● During normal driving, do not
turn off the engine. Turning the
engine off while driving will not
cause loss of steering or brak-
ing control, but the power assist
to these systems will be lost.
This will make it more difficult to
steer and brake, so you should
pull over and stop the vehicle as
soon as it is safe to do so.
However, in the event of an
emergency, such as if it
becomes impossible to stop the
vehicle in the normal way:

P.612
● Use engine braking (downshift)
to maintain a safe speed when
driving down a steep hill.
Using the brakes continuously
may cause the brakes to over-
heat and lose effectiveness.
(

P.653)
● Do not adjust the position of the
steering wheel, the seat, or the
inside or outside rear view mir-
rors while driving.
Doing so may result in a loss of
vehicle control.
● Always check that all passen-
gers’ arms, head or other parts
of their body are not outside the
vehicle.
● Do not drive the vehicle off-
road.
This is not a AWD vehicle
designed for off-road driving.
Proceed with all due caution if it
becomes unavoidable to drive
off-road.
● Do not drive across river cross-
ings or through other bodies of
water.
This may cause electric/elec-
tronic components to short cir-
cuit, damage the engine or
cause other serious damage to
the vehicle.