CADILLAC DEVILLE 1996 7.G Owner's Guide

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine What’s wrong with this?
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A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
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. Don’t
allow more than
1 inch (25 mm) of slack.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine e: What’s wrong with this?
A CAUTION:
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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine &: What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the ann. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times.
I A CAUTION:
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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine &: What’s wrong with this?
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A: The belt is twisted across the body.
I A CAUTION:
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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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 Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) System
This part explains the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) system or air bag system.
lour Cadillac has two air bags
-- one air bag for the
driver and another air bag for the right front passenger.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine c Here are the most important things to know about the air
bag system:
A CAUTION:
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. Air bags
inflate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye.
If you’re too close to an inflating
air bag, it couid 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.
I A CAUTION:
~~ ~
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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine There is an air bag readiness
light
on the instrument
panel,
which shows AIR
BAG.
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.
How the Air Bag System Works
Where is the air bag?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the steering wheel.
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The right front passenger’s air bag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.
A CAUTION:
Don’t put anything on, or attach anything to, the
steering wheel or instrument panel.
Also, don’t
put anything (such
as pets or objects) between
any occupant and the steering wheel or
instrument panel.
If something is between an
occupant and an air bag,
it could affect the
performance of the air bag -- or worse, it could
cause injury.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine When should an air bag inflate?
The air bag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag
will inflate
only
if the impact speed is above the system’s designed
“threshold level.” If your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level is
about
9 to 15 mph (14 to 24 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 air bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side
impacts 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. .
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and
the vehicle’s deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one indication of this.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity,
the air bag sensing system detects that the vehicle is
suddenly stopping as
a result of a crash. The sensing
system triggers a chemical reaction
of the sodium azide
sealed in the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen
gas, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and
related hardware are all
part of the air bag modules
packed inside the steering wheel and in the instrument
panel in front of the right front passenger.
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.
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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.
A CAUTION: I
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.
Your vehicle has a feature that will automatically unlock
the doors and
tum the interior lamps on when the air bag
inflates
(if battery power is available). But if you want to,
you can lock the doors again and
turn the interior lamps
off by using the door lock and interior lamp controls.
m many crashes severe enough to inflate
an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle defomation.
Additional windshield breakage may
also occur from the
right front passenger air bag.
0 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.
0 Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing 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.
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