CADILLAC ELDORADO 1997 10.G Owner's Guide

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine ..
or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the vehicle does.
You get more time to stop. You stop over more distance,
and your strongest bones take the forces. That’s why
safety belts make such good sense.
@ Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle after an
.accident if I’m, weaning a.safety belt?
At You could be -- whether you’re wearing a safety
belt
or not:But you can unbuckle a safety.beB,
even if you’re upside down. And your chance of
being conscious during and after an accident, so
you can unbuckle and get out, is much greater if
you are .belted.
Q.’ If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have to
A: Air bags are in many vehicles today and will
be in most of them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems only; so they work with
safety belts -- not instead of them. Every air bag
system ever offered for sale has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you’re in a vehicle that has air
bags, you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That’s tme not only in frontal collisions,
but especially in side and other collisions.
wear safety- belts?

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine : If I’m a good driver, and 1 never drive far from
home, why should I wear safety belts?
A You may be an excellent driver, but if you’re in an
accident
-- even one that isn’t your fault -- you and
your passengers can be hurt. Being
a good driver
doesn’t protect you from things beyond your
control, such as bad drivers.
Most accidents occur within 25 miles (40 km) of
home. And the greatest number of serious injuries
and deaths occur at speeds
of less than 40 mph
(65 kdh).
Safety belts are for everyone.
W Y Y
This part is only for people of adult size.
Be aware that there
are special things to know about safety
belts and children. And there
are different rules for smaller
children and babies.
If a child will be riding in your
Cadillac, see the
part of this manual called “Children.”
Follow those rules for everyone’s protection.
First, you’ll want to know which restraint systems your
vehicle has.
We’ll start with
the driver position.
This part describes the driver’s restraint system.
The driver has
a lap-shoulder belt. Here’s how to wear
it properly.
1. Close and lock the door.
2. Adjust the seat (to see how, see “Seats” in the Index)
so you can sit up straight.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let it get twisted.
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
Full
up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure.
If the belt isn’t long enough, see “Safety Belt
Extender’’ at the end
of this section.
Make sure the release button
on the buckle is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if you ever had to. The lap
part
of the belt should be worn low and snug on
the hips, just touching the thighs. In a crash, this applies
force to the strong pelvic .bones. And you’d be less
likely to slide under the lap belt.
If you slid under it, the
belt would apply force at your abdomen. This could
cause serious or even fatal injuries. The shoulder belt
should go over the shoulder and across the chest.
These parts
of the body are best able to take belt
restraining forces.
The safety belt locks
if there’s a sudden stop or crash.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Your car has a shoulder belt tightness adjustment
feature.
If the shoulder belt seems too tight, adjust it
before
you begin to drive.
1. Sit well back in the seat.
2. Start pulling the shoulder belt out.
-. , . , . . . .. , ..
4. Let the belt go back all the way. You should hear a
slight clicking
sound. If you don’t, the adjustment
feature won’t set, and
you’ll have to start again.
5. Now you can add a small amount of slack. Lean
forward slightly, then sit back. If you’ve added more
than 1 inch (25 mm) of slack, pull the shoulder belt
out
as you did before and start again.
3. Just before it reaches the end, give it a quick pull. If you move around in the vehicle enough, pull out the
shoulder belt, or open your door, the belt will become
tight again.
If this happens, you can reset it.
5
I

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Q: what’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
..
You can be serioasly hurt if your shoulder belt‘ is
too loose. In a crash, you would move forward
too much, which could increase injury- The
shoulder belt should fit against your
body* Don’t
alIow ~QIV ‘than l,.inch (25 mm) of slack4 .,
’ ,” . . .’

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
.. ...
You can be seriously injured if your belt is
buckled in the wrong place like this. In a crash,
the belt would go up over your abdomen. The
belt forces would be there, not at the pelvic
bones. This could cause serious internal injuries.
AIways buckle your belt into the buckle
nearest
you.

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A: The shoulder belt is worn under the m. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times.
., . . ... ,
You can be seriously injured if you wear the
shoulder belt under your arm.
In a crash, your
body wodd move too far forward, which woukI
increase the chance of head and neck injury.
Also, the belt would apply too much force to the
sibs, which aren’t as strong as shoulder bones.
You could also severely injure internal organs
like your liver or spleen.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine A: The belt is twisted across the body.
. . i.
: A, CAUTION: . ..
..
YQU can be seriously injured by a twisted belt. In
a crash, you wouldn’t have the full width of the
belt
to spread impact forces. If a belt is twisted,
make it straight
SO it can work properly, or ask
your dealer to fix it.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
The belt should go back out
of the way.
Before you close
the door, be sure the belt is out of the
way.
If you slam the door on it, you can damage both the
belt and your vehicle.
. , ..
A pregnant woman should wear a lap-shoulder belt, and
the lap portion should be
worn as low as possible, below
the rounding, throughout the pregnancy.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the
mother. When a safety belt
is worn properly, it’s more
likely that the
fetus won’t be hurt in a crash. For
pregnant women,
as for anyone, the key to making
safety belts effective is wearing them properly.
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same
way
as the driver’s safety belt. See “Driver Position,”
earlier
in this section.
When the lap portion of the belt
is pulled out all the
way, it will
lock. If it does, let it go back all the waj
start again. 1 and
This part explains the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) system or air bag system.
Your Cadillac
has two air bags -- one air bag for the
driver and another air bag for the right front passenger. Here are
the most important things to
know about the air
bag system:
..
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash if
YOU aren’t wearing your safety belt -- even if you
have air
bags. Wearing your safety belt during a
crash helps reduce
your chance of hitting things
inside
the vehicle or eing ejected fro
bags are “supplemental restraints” to the safety
belts. All air bags are designed tap work with
safety belts, but don’t
replace them. Air bags are
designed to
work only in rn~der;ate to severe
crashes where the
front of your vehi
something.
They aren’t designed $8
in rollover9 mar, side OF Bow-speed frontal
crashes. Everyone
in YSW vehicle should weas a
safety belt properly -- whether or not there’s an
ais bag for that person.
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