GMC ENVOY 1998 Owner's Manual

5. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end
of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder belt. 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 faal injuries. The shoulder belt should go
over the shoulder and across the chest. These parts
of the
body are best able to t,&e belt restraining forces.
The safety belt locks
if there's a sudden stop or crash, or
if you pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor.
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What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
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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.
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@ What’s wrong with this?
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A: 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.
Always buckle your belt into the buckle
nearest
you.
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What's wrong with this?
'A
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. 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 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.
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@ What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body.
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.
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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.
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
slarn 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.
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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.
Right Front Passenger Position
To learn how to wear the right front passenger’s safety
belt properly, see “Driver Position” earlier in
this section.
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same
way as the driver’s safety belt
-- except for one thing. If
you ever pull the shoulder portion of the belt out all the
way, you will engage the child restraint locking feature.
If this happens, just let the belt
go back all the way and
start again.
Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) System
This part explains the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) system or air bag system.
Your vehicle has “Next Generation” reduced-force
frontal air bags
-- one air bag for the driver and another
air bag for the right front passenger.
Reduced-force frontal air bags are designed to help
reduce the risk
of injury from the force of an inflating
air bag. But even these air bags must inflate very
quickly if they are to do their
job and comply with
federal regulations.
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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 being ejected from it. Air bags
are “supplemental restraints” to the safety belts.
All air bags -- even reduced-force air bags -- are
designed to work with safety belts, but 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. And, for unrestrained occupants,
reduced-force air bags may provide less protection
in frontal crashes than more forceful
air bags have
provided in the past. Everyone in your vehicle
should wear
a safety belt properly -- whether or
not there’s an air bag for that person.
I
Air bags i ate 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. This is true
even with reduced-force frontal air bags. Safety
belts help keep you in position before and during
a crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with
reduced-force air bags. The driver should sit as
far back
as possible while still maintaining
control of the vehicle.
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r-
Children who ar ~p against, or very close to, an
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. This is true even though your vehicle
has reduced-force frontal air bags.
Air bags plus
lap-shoulder belts offer the best protection for
adults, but not for young children and infants.
Neither the vehicle’s safety belt system nor its air
bag system is designed for them. Young children
and infants need the protection that a child
restraint system can provide. Always secure
children properly in your vehicle.
To read how,
see the part of this manual called “Children” and
see the caution labels on the sunvisors and the
right front passenger’s safety belt.
There is an air bag readiness
light
on the instrument
panel, which shows the air
bag symbol.
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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How the Air Bag System Works
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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