belt BUICK REGAL 1997 Owners Manual

The 1997 Buick Regal Owner’s Manual
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Seats and Restraint Systems
This section tells you how to use your seats and safety belts properly. It also explains the “air bag” system.
Features and Controls
This section explains how to start and operate your Buick.
Comfort Controls and Audio Systems
This section tells you how to adjust the ventilation and comfort controls and how to operate your audio system.
Your Driving and the Road
Here you’ll find helpful information and tips about the road and how to drive under different conditions.
Problems on the Road
This section tells what to do if you have a problem while driving, such as a flat tire or overheated engine, etc.
Service and Appearance Care
Here the manual tells you how to keep your Buick running properly and looking good.
Maintenance Schedule
This section tells you when to perform vehicle maintenance and what fluids and lubricants to use.
Customer Assistance Information
This section tells you how to contact Buick for assistance and how to get service and owner publications.
It also gives you information on “Reporting Safety Defects’’ on page
8-8.
Index
Here’s an alphabetical listing of almost every subject in this manual. You can use it to quickly find
something you want
to read.
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Vehicle Symbols
These are some of the symbols you may find on your vehicle.
For example,
these symbols
are used on an
original battery:
POSSIBLE A
CAUTION
INJURY
PROTECT EYES BY
SHIELDING
CAUSTIC
ACID COULD BAllERY
CAUSE
BURNS
SPARK
OR ,111,
COULD FLAME
EXPLODE BAllERY
These symbols are important
for you and
your passengers
whenever your
vehicle is
driven:
DOOR LOCK
UNLOCK
FASTEN SEAT
BELTS
These symbols
have to do with
your lamps:
SIGNALS @ e
TURN
These symbols
are
on some of
your controls:
WINDSHIELD
WIPER
WINDSHIELD DEFROSTER
WINDOW
DEFOGGER
These symbols
are used on
warning and
indicator lights:
COOLANT -
TEMP -
CHARGING I-1
BAllERY
SYSTEM
BRAKE
(0)
COOLANT a
ENGINE OIL w,
PRESSURE
ANTI-LOCK
(@)
BRAKES
Here are some
other symbols
you may see:
FUSE
I
LIGHTER n
HORN )tr
SPEAKER
b
FUEL p3
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Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Here you’ll find information about the seats in your Buick \
and how to use your safety belts properly. You can also
learn about some things you should
not do with air bags and safety belts.
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1-18
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1-25
1-28 Seats and Seat Controls
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
Here
Are Questions Many People Ask About
Safety Belts
-- and the Answers
How
to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Driver Position Safety Belt
Use During Pregnancy
Right Front Passenger Position
Air Bag System
Rear Seat Passengers
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children and Small Adults 1-30
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1-34
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1 1-57.
~ 1-60 1-60
1-61 Center Passenger Position
Children
Built-in Child Restraint Child Restraints
Larger Children
Safety Belt Extender Checking Your Restraint Systems
Replacing Restraint System Parts After
a Crash
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Sitting in a reclined position when your vehicle
is in motion can be dangerous. Even
if you buckle
up, your safety belts can’t do their job when
you’re reclined like this.
The shoulder belt can’t do
its job because it
won’t be against your body. Instead, it will be
in front of you. In a crash you could go into it,
receiving neck or other injuries.
The lap belt can’t do
its job either. In a crash
the belt could go up over your abdomen. The
belt forces would be there, not at your pelvic
bones. This could cause serious internal injuries.
For proper protection when the vehicle is in
motion, have the seatback upright. Then sit
well back in the seat and wear your safety
belt properly.
Head Restraints
Slide the head restraint up or down so that the top of the
restraint is closest to the top of your ears. This position reduces the chance of
a neck injury in a crash.
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
This part of the manual tells you how to use safety belts
properly. It also tells you some
things you should not do
with safety belts.
And it explains the air bag system.
Don’t let anyone ride where he or she can’t wear
a safety belt properly.
If you are in a crash and
you’re not wearing
a safety belt, your injuries
can be much worse. You can hit things inside the
vehicle or be ejected from it. You can be seriously
injured or killed.
In the same crash, you might
not be if you are buckled up. Always fasten your
safety belt, and check that your passengers’ belts
are fastened properly too.
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It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area,
inside or outside of a vehicle. In a collision,
people riding in these areas are more likely to be
seriously injured
or killed. Do not allow people to
ride in any area of your vehicle that is not
equipped with seats and safety belts. Be sure
everyone in your vehicle is in
a seat and using a
safety belt properly.
Your vehicle has a light
that comes on as
a reminder
to buckle up. (See “Safety
Belt Reminder Light” in
the Index.)
In most states and Canadian provinces, the law says to
wear safety belts. Here’s why:
They work.
You never know if you’ll be in a crash. If you do have
a crash,
you don’t know if it will be a bad one.
A few crashes
are mild, and some crashes can be so
serious that even buckled up a person wouldn’t survive.
But most crashes are in between.
In many of them,
people who buckle up can survive and sometimes
walk away. Without belts they could have been badly
hurt or killed.
After more than
25 years of safety belts in vehicles,
the facts are clear. In most crashes buckling up does
matter
... a lot!
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Why Safety Belts Work
When you ride in or on anything, you go as fast as
it goes.
Take
the simplest vehicle. Suppose it's just a seat
on wheels. Put
someone
on it.
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or the instrument panel ...
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or the safety belts!
With safety belts,
you slow down as the vehicle does.
You get more time
to stop. You stop over more distance,
and your strongest bones take the forces. That's why
safety belts make such
good sense.
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Here Are Questions Many People Ask &= If I’m a good driver, and I never drive far from
About Safetv Belts -- and the Answers home, why should I wear safety belts?
Q=
A:
&=
A:
u
Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if I’m wearing a safety belt?
You could be -- whether you’re wearing a safety
belt or not. But you can unbuckle a safety belt,
even if you’re upside down. And your chance of
being conscious during and after an accident,
so
you can unbuckle and get out, is much greater if
you are belted.
If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have to
wear safety belts?
Air bags are in many vehicles today and will be in
most of them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems only;
so they work with
safety belts -- not instead of them. Every air bag
system ever offered for sale has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you’re in a vehicle that has air
bags,
you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That’s true not only in frontal collisions,
but especially in side and other collisions.
A: You may be an excellent driver, but if you’re in an
accident
-- even one that isn’t your fault -- you
and your passengers can be hurt. Being a good
driver doesn’t protect you from things beyond
your control, such as bad drivers.
Most accidents occur within
25 miles (40 km)
of home. And the greatest number
of serious
injuries and deaths occur at speeds of less than
40 mph (65 km/h).
Safety belts are for everyone.
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How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Adults
This part is only for people of adult size.
Be aware that there are special things to know about
safety belts and children. And there are different
rules for smaller children and babies. If
a child
will be riding in your Buick,
see the part of this
manual called “Children.” Follow those rules for
everyone’s protection.
First, you’ll want to know which restraint systems your
vehicle has.
We’ll start with the driver position.
Driver Position
This part describes the driver’s restraint system.
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The driver has a lap-shoulder belt. Here’s how to wear
it properly.
1. Close and lock the door.
2. Adjust the seat (to see how, see “Seats” in the Index)
so you can sit up straight.
3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let it get twisted.
The shoulder belt may lock if you pull the belt across
you very quickly. If this happens, let the belt go back
slightly to unlock it. Then pull the belt across you
more slowly.
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4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure.
If the belt isn’t long enough, see “Safety Belt
Extender” at the end of this section.
Make sure the release button on the buckle is
positioned
so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly
if you ever had to.
5. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end of the belt as you pull up
on the shoulder belt.
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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 fatal injuries. The shoulder belt should go
over the shoulder and across the chest. These parts of the
body are best able to take 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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