belt BUICK PARK AVENUE 1996 User Guide

Adjust the height so that the shoulder portion of the belt is
centered on your shoulder. The belt should be away from
your face and neck, but not falling off your shoulder.
@’ What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection
this way.
I
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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Q: What’s wrong with this?
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.
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
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@ What’s wrong with this?
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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&.’ What’s wrong with this?
L
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.
A: The belt is twisted across the body.
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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.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS)
or air bag system. Your
Buick 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 an air bag. Wearing your safety belt during
a
crash helps reduce your chance of hitting things
inside the vehicle
or being ejected from it. The air
bag is only
a “supplemental restraint.” That is, it
works with safety belts but doesn’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, including the driver,
should wear
a safety belt properly -- whether or
not there’s an
air bag for that person.
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‘! 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 for an air bag inflation
in
a crash. Always wear your safety belt, even -
with an air bag. The driver should sit as far back
as possible while still maintaining control of
the vehicle.
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.
/I LAUTION: ‘I
AIR BAG
AIR
BAG
There is an air bag readiness light on the instrument
panel, which shows
AIR BAG.
The system checks the air bag’s 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 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, rear impacts 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.
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 right front passenger’s bag, will
be hot for a short time. The part
of the bag that comes
into contact with you may be warm, but it will never be
too hot to 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.
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.
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.
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I‘ and 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.
0 Let only qualified technicians work on your air bag
system. Improper service can mean that yoyr
air bag
syst,em won’t work properly. See your dealer
for service.
NOTICE:
If you damage the cover for the driver’s-or the
right front 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 right front passenger’s
air bag. Do not open or
break the
air bag covers.
Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped Buick
Air bags affect how your Buick 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
Buick dealer and the Park Avenue Service Manual have
information about servicing your vehicle and the air bag
system.
To purchase a service manual, see “Service and
Owner Publications’’ in the Index.
For up to
10 seconds after the ignition key is
turned off and the battery is disconnected, an air
bag can still inflate during improper service. You
can be injured if you are close to an air bag when
it inflates. Avoid wires wrapped with ‘yellow tape
or yellow connectors. They are probably part of
the air bag system. Be sure to follow proper
service procedures, and make sure the person
performing work for you is qualified
to do so.
me air bag system does not need regular maintenance.
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Safety Belt -,ring 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.
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
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.
If your vehicle has a center passenger position, be sure
to use the correct buckle when buckling your
lap-shoulder belt. If you find that
the latch plate will not
go fully into the buckle, see
if you are using the buckle
for the center passenger position.
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Belt
If your vehicle has a front split seat and a rear bench
seat, someone can sit in the center positions.
When you sit in a center seating position, you have a lap
safety belt, which has no retractor.
To make the belt
longer, tilt the latch plate and pull
it along the belt.
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