BUICK CENTURY 2001 Owner's Guide

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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.
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,
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 ªDriver Positionº earlier in this section.
The right front passenger's safety belt works the same
way as the driver's safety belt
-- except for two things.
If the belt stops before it reaches the buckle, tilt the latch
plate and keep pulling until you can buckle the belt.
On some vehicles, if you 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.

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Air Bag Systems
This part explains the frontal and side impact air
bag systems.
Your vehicle has air bags
-- a frontal air bag for the
driver and another frontal air bag for the right front
passenger. Your vehicle may also have a side impact
air bag for the driver. If your vehicle has a side impact
air bag for the driver it will say AIR BAG on the air bag
covering on the side of the driver's seatback closest to
the door.
Frontal air bags are designed to help reduce the risk
of injury from the force of an inflating frontal air bag.
But these air bags must inflate very quickly 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 systems:
CAUTION:
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 ªsupplemental restraintsº to the
safety belts. All air bags are designed to work
with safety belts but don't replace them.
Frontal air bags for the driver and right front
passenger 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,
frontal air bags may provide less protection in
frontal crashes than more forceful air bags have
provided in the past. The side impact air bag for
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
the driver is designed to inflate only in moderate
to severe crashes where something hits the
driver's side of the vehicle. It isn't designed to
inflate in frontal, in rollover or in rear crashes.
Everyone in your vehicle should wear a safety
belt properly
-- whether or not there's an air bag
for that person.
CAUTION:
Both frontal and side impact air bags inflate
with great force, faster than the blink of an eye.
If you're too close to an inflating air bag, as you
would be if you were leaning forward, it could
seriously injure you. Safety belts help keep you
in position for air bag inflation before and during
a crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with
frontal air bags. The driver should sit as far back
as possible while still maintaining control of the
vehicle, and should not lean on the door.

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CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close to, any
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. 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 ªChildren.º
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 ªAir Bag Readiness Lightº in the Index
for more information.

1-24 How the Air Bag Systems Work
Where are the air bags?
The driver's frontal air bag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
The right front passenger's frontal air bag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger's side.

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The driver's side impact air bag is in the side of the
driver's seatback closest to the door.
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 and don't let seat covers block
the inflation path of a side impact air bag.

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When should an air bag inflate?
The driver's and right front passenger's frontal air bags
are designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal or
near
-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inflate
only if the impact speed is above the system's designed
ªthreshold level.º
If your vehicle goes straight into a wall that doesn't move
or deform, the threshold level is about 12 to 18 mph
(19 to 29 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 driver's and right front passenger's
frontal air bags are not designed to inflate in rollovers,
side impacts, or rear impacts, because inflation would
not help the occupant.
The driver's side impact air bag is designed to inflate
in moderate to severe side crashes involving the driver's
door. The side impact air bag will inflate if the crash
severity is above the system's designed ªthreshold
level.º The threshold level can vary with specific
vehicle design. The driver's side impact air bag is not
designed to inflate in frontal or near
-frontal impacts,
rollovers 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.
For frontal air bags, inflation is determined by the angle
of the impact and how quickly the vehicle slows down
in frontal and near
-frontal impacts. For the side impact
air bag, inflation is determined by the location and
severity of the impact.
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. For both
frontal and side impact air bags, 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, instrument panel and the side of the driver's
seatback closest to the door.
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. In moderate to severe side
collisions, even belted occupants can contact the inside
of the vehicle. The air bag supplements the protection
provided by safety belts.

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Air bags distribute the force of the impact more evenly
over the occupant's upper body, stopping the occupant
more gradually. But the frontal 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 the air bag. The side
impact air bag would not help you in many types of
collisions, including frontal or near frontal collisions,
rollovers, and rear impacts, primarily because the
occupant's motion is not toward that 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 for the
driver's and right front passenger's frontal air bags,
and only in moderate to severe side collisions for the
driver's side impact air bag.
What will you see after an air bag inflates?
After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates, so
quickly 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, the instrument panel for the right front passenger's
bag, the side of the seatback closest to the door for
the driver's side impact air 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
some smoke and dust coming from the vents in the
deflated air bags. Air bag inflation doesn't prevent the
driver from seeing or being able to steer the vehicle,
nor does it stop people from leaving the vehicle.
CAUTION:
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 a door.

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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.

Air bags are designed to inflate only once. After an
air bag inflates, 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 crash sensing and
diagnostic module, which records information about
the frontal air bag system. The module records
information about the readiness of the system, when
the system commands air bag inflation and driver's
safety belt usage at deployment. The module also
records speed, engine rpm, brake and throttle data.

Let only qualified technicians work on your air
bag systems. Improper service can mean that an
air bag system won't work properly. See your dealer
for service.
NOTICE:
If you damage the covering for the driver's or the
right front passenger's air bag, or the air bag
covering on the driver's seatback, the bag may
not work properly. You may have to replace the
air bag module in the steering wheel, both the air
bag module and the instrument panel for the right
front passenger's air bag, or the air bag module
and seatback for the driver's side impact air bag.
Do not open or break the air bag coverings.