CADILLAC SEVILLE 1997 4.G Owner's Guide

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A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as
much protection this way.
A CAUTION:
You can be seriously 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
allow more than
1 inch (25 mm) of slack.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine c ..T " I T--? 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.
Always buckle your belt into the buckle
nearest you.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine @ What’s wrong with this?
A CAUTION:
You can be seriously injured if you wear the
shoulder belt under your arm.
In a crash, your
body would move
too far forward, which would
increase the chance of head and neck injury.
Also, the belt would apply
too much force to the
ribs, which aren’t
as strong as shoulder bones.
You could also severely injure internal organs
like your liver or spleen.
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times.

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Q: What's wrong with this?
I
A: The belt is twisted across the body.
A CAUTION:
~~
You 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 w01nan should wear a lap-shoulder belt, and
the lap portion should be worn as low as possible, below
the rounding. throughout the pregnancy.

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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 way and
start again.
This part explains the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) system or air bag system.
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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:
A CAUTION:
You can be severely in,jurtld or kil1c.d in a crash if
you aren’t wearing
your safety hrlt -- wen if you
have air bags. Wearing your
safet!. hcit during a
crash helps reduce your chance of’ hitting things
inside the vehicle
or being qjectcd from it. Air
bags
are “supplemental restraints” to the safety
belts. All
air bags are designed to work with
safety belts, brat don’t replace them. Air
bags are
designed to work only in moderate to severe
crashes where the front of your vehicle hits
something. They aren’t designed to inflate at all
in
rollover, rear, side or low-speed frontal
crashes. Everyone in your vehicle should
wear a
safety belt properly -- whether or not there’s an
air bag for that person.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine A CAUTION:
Air bags inflate with great force, faster than the
blink
of an eye. If you’re too close to an inflating
air bag,
it could seriously injure you. Safety belts
help keep you in position before and during a
crash. Always wear your safety belt., even with air
bags. The driver should sit as far back as possible
while still maintaining control
of the vehicle.
A CAUTION:
An inflating air bag can seriously injure small
children. Always secure children properly in your
vehicle.
To read how, see the part of this manual
called “Children”
and the caution label on the
right front passenger’s safety belt.
AIR BAG
There is an air bag readiness
light
on the instrument panel,
which shows
AIR BAG.
The system checks the air bag electrical system for
malfunctions.
The light tells you if there is an electrical
problem. See “Air
Bag Readiness Light” in the Index
for more information.
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Where are the air bags?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the steering wheel. The right front
passenger‘s air bag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine A CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an air
bag, the bag might not inflate properly or it
might force the object into that person.
The path
of an inflating air bag must be kept clear. Don’t
put anything between an occupant and
an air
bag, and don’t attach
or put anything on the
steering wheel
hub or on or near any other air
bag covering.
When should an air bag inflate?
An air bag is designed to inflate in a moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crash. The air
bag will inflate
only if the impact speed is above the system’s designed
“threshold level.”
If your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that doesn’t move or deform. the threshold level is
about 9 to 15 mph (14 to 24 km/hj. The threshold level
can vary, however, with specific vehicle design. so that
it can be somewhat above or below this range. If your
vehicle strikes something that
will move or deform, such
as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The
air bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side
impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because
of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and
how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal or
near-frontal impacts.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle
is in a crash. The sensing
system triggers
a release of gas from the inflator, which
inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related
hardware are
all part of the air bag modules inside the
steering wheel and
in the instrument panel in front of the
right front passenger.

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How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel
or the
instrument panel. Air bags supplement the proteciiort
provided by safety belts.
Air bags distribute the force of
the impact more evenly over the occupant's upper body,
stopping the occupant more gradually. But air bags would
not help
you in many types of collisions, including
rollovers. rear impacts and side impacts. primarily because
an occupant's motion
is not toward those air bags. Air
bags should never be regarded as anything more than 2
supplement to safety belts, and then only in moderate to
severe frontai or near-frontal collisions.
What will you see after an air bag inflates?
After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates, SO
quiclcly that some people may not even realize the
air bag inflated. Some components of the
air bag
module
-- the steering wheel hub for the driver's air
bag, or the instrument panel for the right front
passenger's bag
-- will be hot for a short time. The parts
of the bag that come into contact with you may be
warm, but not too hot to touch. There will be sorne
smoke and dust coming from vents in the deflated air
bags. Air
bag inflation doesn-t prevent the driver from
seeing or from being able to steer the vehicle,
nor does it
stop people from leaving the vehicle.
When an air bag inflates, there is dust in the air.
This dust could cause breathing problems
for
people with a history of asthma or other
breathing trouble.
To avoid this, everyone in the
vehicle should get out as
soon as it is safe to do so.
If you have breathing problems but can't get out
of the vehicle after an air bag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening a window or door.
Your vehicle has a feature that will automatically unlock
the doors and turn
the interior lamps on when the air
bags inflate (if battery power is available). You can lock
the doors again and
tun: the interior lamps off by using
the
door lock and interior lamp controls.
In many crashes severe enough.to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right: front passenger air
bag.