belt BUICK REGAL 1998 Owner's Manual
[x] Cancel search | Manufacturer: BUICK, Model Year: 1998, Model line: REGAL, Model: BUICK REGAL 1998Pages: 388, PDF Size: 20.19 MB
Page 35 of 388

When the shoulder belt is pulled out all the way, it
will lock. If it does, let it go back all the way and
start again.
If the belt is not 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.
3. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder part. 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.
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Page 36 of 388

The safety belt locks if there's a sudden stop or a crash,
or if you pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor.
A CAUTION:
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.
To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
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Page 37 of 388

Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
Rear shoulder belt comfort guides will provide added
safety belt comfort for children who have outgrown
child restraints and for small adults. When installed
on a
shoulder belt, the comfort guide pulls the belt away
from the neck and head.
There is one guide for each outside passenger position in
the rear seat.
To provide added safety belt comfort for
children who have outgrown child restraints and for
smaller adults, the comfort guides may be installed on
the shoulder belts. Here’s how to install a comfort guide
and
use the safety belt:
1. Pull the elastic cord out from between the edge of
the seatback and the interior body to remove the
guide from its storage clip.
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Page 38 of 388

2. Slide the guide under and past the belt. The elastic
cord must
be under the belt. Then, place the guide
over the belt, and insert the two edges
of the belt into
the slots
of the guide.
3. Be sure that the belt is not twisted and it lies flat.
The elastic
cord must be under the belt and the guide
on top.
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Page 39 of 388

4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described in “Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions’’
earlier in this section. Make sure that the shoulder
belt crosses the shoulder.
To remove and store the comfort guides, squeeze the
belt edges together
so that you can take them out from
the guides.
Pull the guide upward to expose its storage
clip, and then slide the guide onto the clip. Rotate the
guide and clip inward and in between the seatback
and the interior body, leaving only the loop
of elastic
cord exposed.
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Page 40 of 388

w
Center Passenger Position Lap Belt
When you sit in the 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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Page 41 of 388

Children
To make the belt shorter, pull its free end as shown until
the belt is snug.
Buckle, position and release it the same way as the lap
part
of a lap-shoulder belt. 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.
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
infants and all children smaller than adult size. Neither
the distance traveled nor the age and size
of the traveler
changes the need, for everyone, to use safety restraints.
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.
Smaller Children and Babies
Children who are up against, or very close to, any
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.
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Page 42 of 388

... ‘4 ,
Smaller children and babies should always be
restrained
in a child or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint will say whether it is
the right type and size for your child.
A very
young child’s hip bones are
so small that a
regular belt might not stay low on the hips, as
it
should. Instead, the belt will likely be over the
child’s abdomen.
In a crash, the belt would apply
force right
on the child’s abdomen, which could
cause serious or fatal injuries.
So, be sure that
any child small enough for one is always properly
restrained in
a child or infant restraint.
Infants need complete support, including support for the
head and neck. This
is necessary because an infant’s
neck
is weak and its head weighs so much compared
with the rest of its body.
In a crash, an infant in a
rear-facing restraint settles into the restraint,
so the crash
forces can be distributed across the strongest part
of the
infant’s body, the back and shoulders. A baby should be
secured
in an appropriate infant restraint. This is so
important that many hospitals today won’t release a
newborn infant to
its parents unless there is an
infant restraint available for the baby’s
first trip in a
motor vehicle.
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@ What if the top of my child’s shoulders is above
the highest pair
of slots?
A: A child whose shoulders are above the highest slots
shouldn’t use this child restraint. Instead, the child
should sit on the vehicle’s seat cushion and use the
vehicle’s safety belts.
A C * “TidN:
MAKE SURE THE TOP OF THE CHILD’S
SHOULDERS
IS BELOW THE SLOTS THAT
THE HARNESS GOES THROUGH. A CHILD
WHOSE SHOULDERS ARE ABOVE THOSE
SLOTS COULD
BE INJURED DURING A
SUDDEN STOP OR CRASH. IF’ THE TOP OF
THE CHILD’S SHOULDERS IS ABOVE THE
SLOTS, DON’T
USE THIS CHILD RESTRAINT.
INSTEAD, THE CHILD SHOULD SIT ON THE
VEHICLE’S REGULAR SEAT AND USE THE
REGULAR
SAFETY BELTS.
Adjusting the Harness Height
1. Lower the child restraint cushion.
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Securing a Child in the Built-in
Child Restraint
Now that the harness is adjusted to the correct height for
your child, you’re ready to use the child restraint’s
harness (E) to secure your child.
Don’t use the vehicle’s safety belts.
Using the vehicle’s regular safety belts on a child
seated on the child restraint cushion can cause
serious injury to the child in a sudden stop or
crash.
If a child is the proper size for the built-in
child restraint, secure the child using the child
restraint’s harness. But children who are too
large for the built-in child restraint should sit on
the vehicle’s regular seat and use the regular
safety belts.
WARNING! FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE
MANUFACTURER’S INSTRUCTIONS
ON THE USE
OF THIS CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM CAN
RESULT IN YOUR CHILD STRIKING THE
VEHICLE’S INTERIOR DURING
A SUDDEN STOP
OR CRASH.
SNUGLY ADJUST THE BELTS PROVIDED WITH
THIS CHILD RESTRAINT
AROUND YOUR CHILD.
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