CHEVROLET CORVETTE 1995 4.G Owner's Guide

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine When should an air bag inflate?
The air bag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crashes. 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/h). 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.
It is possible that in a crash only one of the two air bags
in your Corvette will deploy.
This is rare, but can
happen in a crash just severe enough to make an air bag
inflate.
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
the vehicle’s deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one
indication of this.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity,
the air bag sensing system detects that the vehicle is
suddenly stopping as a result
of a crash. The sensing
system triggers a chemical reaction of the sodium azide
sealed in the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen
gas, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag, and
related hardware are all part of the air bag modules
packed inside the steering wheel and in the instrument
panel in front of the passenger.
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. The air bag supplements the
protection 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 and rear and side impacts, primarily
because an occupant’s motion
is not toward the air bag.
Air bags should never be regarded
as anything more
than a supplement to safety belts, and then only in
moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine What will you see after an air bag inflates?
After the air bag inflates, it quickly deflates. This occurs
so quickly that some people may not even realize the air
bag inflated. Some components of the air bag module in
the steering wheel hub for the driver’s air bag, or the
instrument panel for the passenger’s bag, will be hot for
a short time, but the part of the bag that comes into
contact with you will not be hot to the touch. There will
be some smoke and dust coming from vents in the
deflated air bags. Air bag inflation will not prevent the
driver from seeing or from being able to steer the
vehicle, nor will it stop people from leaving the vehicle. In many crashes severe enough to
inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
passenger air bag.
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The air bags are designed to inflate only once. After
they inflate, you’ll need some new parts for your air
bag system. If you don’t get them, the air bag system
won’t be there to help protect you in another crash.
A new system will include air bag modules and
possibly other parts. The service manual for your
vehicle covers the need to replace other parts.
Your vehicle is equipped with a diagnostic module,
which records information about the air bag system.
The module records information about the readiness
of the system, when the sensors are activated and
driver’s safety belt usage at deployment.
Let only qualified technicians work
on your air bag
system. Improper service can mean that your air bag
system won’t work properly. See your dealer for
service.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine NOTICE:
If you damage the cover for the driver’s or the
passenger’s air bag, they may not work properly.
You may have to replace the air bag module in
the steering wheel or both the air bag module and
the instrument panel for the passenger’s
air bag.
Do not open or break the air bag covers.
Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped Corvette
Air bags affect how your Corvette should be serviced.
There are parts
of the air bag system in several places
around your vehicle. You don’t want the system to
inflate while someone is working on your vehicle. Your
Chevrolet dealer and the
1995 Corvette Service Manual
have information about servicing your vehicle and the
air bag system. To purchase a service manual, see
“Service Publications” in the Index.
The air bag system does not need regular maintenance.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Safety belts work for everyone, including pregnant
women. Like all occupants, they are more likely to be
seriously injured
if they don’t wear safety belts.
A pregnant woman should wear a lap-shoulder belt, and
the lap portion should be worn as low as possible
throughout the pregnancy. 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.
Passenger Position
The passenger’s safety belt works the same way as the
driver’s safety belt. See “Driver Position,” earlier
in this
section.
Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
infants and all children smaller than adult
size. In fact,
the law in every state in the United States and
in every
Canadian province says children up to some age must be
restrained while in a vehicle.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Smaller Children and Babies
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Child Restraints
Be sure to follow the instructions for the restraint. You
may find these instructions on the restraint itself or in a
booklet, or both. These restraints use the belt system
in
your vehicle, but the child also has to be secured within
the restraint to help reduce the chance
of personal injury.
The instructions that come with the child restraint will
show you how to do that. The child restraint must be
secured properly in the passenger seat.
Keep in mind that an unsecured child restraint can move
around in a collision or sudden stop and injure people in
the vehicle. Be sure to properly secure any child
restraint in your vehicle
-- even when no child is in it.
Top Strap
Some child restraints have a top strap. Don’t use a
restraint like that in your vehicle because the top strap
anchor cannot be installed properly.
You shouldn’t use
this type of child restraint without anchoring the top
strap.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Securing a Child Restraint in the Passenger
Seat Position
Your vehicle has a passenger air bag. Never put a
rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle. Here’s why: You’ll
be using the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about the top strap if the child restraint has one.
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3.
4.
Because your vehicle has a passenger air bag, always
move the seat as far back as it will go before
securing a forward-facing child restraint. (See
“Seats” in the Index.)
Put the restraint on the seat. Follow the instructions
for the child restraint.
Secure the child in the child restraint as the
instructions say.
Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder
portions of the vehicle’s safety belt through or
around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show you how.
If the shoulder belt goes in front of the child’s face or
neck, put it-behind the child restraint.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 5. Buckle the belt.
Make sure the release button is positioned
so you
would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if
you ever had to.
6. Push the “cinch” button. See “Lap Belt Cinch Feature”
in the Index, where we describe
the cinch feature.
7. To tighten the belt, feed the lap belt back into the
retractor while you push down on the child restraint.
8. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt and let
it go back all the way.
The safety belt will move freely again and be ready to
work for an adult or larger child passenger.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Larger Children
. ..
Children who have outgrown child restraints should
wear
the vehicle’s safety belts.
Children who aren’t buckled up can be thrown out in
a crash.
0 Children who aren’t buckled up can strike other
people who are.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Q: What if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt,
but the child
is so small that the shoulder belt is
very close to the child’s face or neck?
A: Move the child toward the center of the vehicle, but
be sure that the shoulder belt still is on the child’s
shoulder,
so that in a crash the child’s upper body
would have the restraint that belts provide.
The lap portion
of the belt should be worn low and snug
on the hips, just touching the child’s thighs. This applies
belt force to the child’s pelvic bones in
a crash.
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