belt CADILLAC ELDORADO 1998 10.G Owner's Manual

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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.
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.
Let
only qualified technicians work on your air
bag system. Improper service can mean that your
air bag system won’t work properly. See your dealer
for service.
NOTICE:
If you damage the covering for the driver’s air
bag, it may not work properly. You
may have to
replace the air bag module.
Do not open or break
the air bag covering.
Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped Vehicle
Air bags affect how your vehicle 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 worlung on your vehicle.
Your dealer and the Cadillac 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.
I A CAUTION:
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 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.
The air bag system does not need regular maintenance.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Rear Seat Passengers
It’s very important for rear seat passengers to buckle up!
Accident statistics show that unbelted people in the rear
seat are
hurt more often in crashes than those who are
wearing safety belts.
Rear passengers who aren’t safety belted can be thrown
out of the vehicle in a crash. And they can strike others
in the vehicle who are wearing safety belts.
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The positions next to the windows have lap-shoulder
belts. Here’s how
to wear one properly.
Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions
I. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
2. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
Don’t
let
it get twisted.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine If the belt stops before it reaches the buckle. tilt the
latch plate and keep pulling until
you can buckle it.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure.
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.
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The lap part of the belt should be worn low and snug on
the hips, just touching the thighs. Ln 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 a crash.
I A CAUTION:
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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.
t
To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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
I A CAUTION:
Children who are up against, or very close to, an
air bag when
it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. Air bags plus lap-shoulder belts offer
the best protection for adults and older children,
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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine I
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I A CAUTION:
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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine A booster seat (F, G) is designed for children who are
abut 40 to 60 lbs. (18 to 27 kg) and about four to
eight years
of age. It's designed to improve the fit of
the vehicle's safety belt system. Booster seats with
shields use lap-only belts; however, booster seats
without
shields use lap-shoulder belts. Booster seats
can also help a child to see out the window.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine When choosing a child restraint, be sure the child
restraint
is designed to be used in a vehicle. If it is. it
will have a label saying that
it meets Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standards.
Then follow the instructions for
the restraint. You may
find these instructions on the restraint itself or in
a
booklet, or both. These restraints use the belt system in
your vehicle, but the child also has to be secured within
the restraint
to help reduce the chance of personal injury.
The instructions that come with the infant or child
restraint will show
you how to do that. Both the owner’s
manual and
the child restraint instructions are important,
so if either one of these is not available, obtain a
replacement copy from the manufacturer.
Where to Put the Restraint
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat. We at
General Motors therefore recommend that
you put your
child restraint in the rear seat. Never put a rear-facing
child restraint in the front passenger seat. Here‘s why:
A CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured if the right front passenger’s air
bag inflates. This
is because the back of a
rear-facing child restraint would be very close to
the inflating air bag. Always secure a rear-facing
child restraint in the rear seat.
You may, however, secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front seat. Before you secure
a forward-facing child restraint, always move the
front passenger seat
as far back as it will go. Or,
secure the child restraint in the rear seat.
Wherever
you install it, be sure to secure the child
restraint properly.
Keep in
mind that an unsecured child restraint can move
around
in a collision or sudden stop and injure people in
the vehicle. Be sure to properly secure any child
restraint
in your vehicle -- even when no child is in it.
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Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position
n
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about the
top strap if the child restraint has one. Be sure
to
follow the instructions that came with the child
restraint. Secure the child
in the child restraint when and
as the instructions say.
1. Put the restraint on the seat.
2. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder
portions of the vehicle’s
safety belt through or
around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show you
how.
Tilt the latch plate to adjust the belt if needed.
If the shoulder belt goes in front of the child’s face
or neck, put
it behind the child restraint.
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