belt CADILLAC XLR 2004 1.G Owner's Manual

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
®nd 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. When securing an add-on child restraint, refer
to the instructions that come with the restraint which may
be on the restraint itself or in a booklet, or both, and
to this manual. The child restraint instructions are
important, so if they are not available, obtain a
replacement copy from the manufacturer.
The child restraint must be secured properly in the
passenger seat. If you want to secure a rear-facing child
restraint in the passenger's seat, turn off the passenger's
air bags. See
Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-44andSecuring a Child Restraint in the Passenger Seat
Position on page 1-31for more on this, including
important safety information.
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the passenger's air
bag in¯ates. This is because the back of the
rear-facing child restraint would be very close
to the in¯ating air bag. Be sure to turn off the
air bag before using a rear-facing child
restraint in the passenger seat position.
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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You can use these lower anchors to install the child
seat instead of using the vehicle's safety belts if the child
seat has the necessary attachments (A, B).
However, your vehicle does not have a third anchor,
called a top strap, or tether, anchor (C). If the
instructions that come with the child seat say that it
must be secured at all three anchors, do not use that
child seat in this vehicle. See
Top Strap on page 1-27.
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{CAUTION:
If a LATCH-type child restraint is not attached
to its anchorage points, the restraint will not
be able to protect the child correctly. In a
crash, the child could be seriously injured or
killed. Make sure that a LATCH-type child
restraint is properly installed using the
anchorage points, or use the vehicle's safety
belts to secure the restraint, following the
instructions that came with that restraint, and
also the instructions in this manual.
Securing a Child Restraint Designed
for the LATCH System
Your vehicle has passenger air bags, There is an air
bag off switch in the glove box you can use to turn
off the passenger's air bags. See
Air Bag Off Switch on
page 1-44for more on this, including important safety
information. Your vehicle will either have the Canadian
switch design (A) or the United States switch
design (B).
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{CAUTION:
If the air bag readiness light ever comes on
when you have turned off the air bags, it
means that something may be wrong with the
air bag system. The passenger's air bags
could in¯ate even though the switch is off. If
this ever happens, do not let anyone whom the
national government has identi®ed as a
member of a passenger air bag risk group sit
in the passenger's position (for example, do
not secure a rear-facing child restraint in your
vehicle) until you have your vehicle serviced.
See
Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-44.
If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH
system, see
Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for
Children (LATCH System) on page 1-27. SeeTop Strap
on page 1-27if the child restraint has one.There are no top strap anchors in this vehicle. Do not
secure a child seat in this vehicle if a national or
local law requires that the top strap be anchored, or if
the instructions that come with the restraint say that the
top strap must be anchored.
If your child restraint does not have the latch system,
you will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure the child
restraint in this position. 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. Your vehicle has passenger's air bags. If you need
to use a rear-facing child restraint in this seat, make
sure the air bags are turned off. See
Air Bag Off
Switch on page 1-44. If your child restraint is
forward-facing, always move the seat as far back
as it will go before securing it in this seat. See
Eight-Way Power Seats on page 1-2.
2. Put the restraint on the seat.
3. 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.
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4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if you ever had to.5. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of
the retractor to set the lock.
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6. To tighten the belt, feed the shoulder belt back into
the retractor while you push down on the child
restraint. You may ®nd it helpful to use your knee to
push down on the child restraint as you tighten
the belt.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle's
safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety
belt will move freely again and be ready to work for an
adult or larger child passenger.
If you were using a rear-facing child restraint, turn on
the passenger's air bags when you remove the
rear-facing child restraint from the vehicle unless the
person who will be sitting there is a member of a
passenger air bag risk group. See
Air Bag Off Switch on
page 1-44.
{CAUTION:
If the passenger's air bags are turned off for a
person who is not in a risk group identi®ed by
the national government, that person will not
have the extra protection of the air bags. In a
crash, the air bags would not be able to in¯ate
and help protect the person sitting there. Do
not turn off the passenger's air bags unless
the person sitting there is in a risk group. See
Air Bag Off Switch on page 1-44for more on
this, including important safety information.
1-35

Air Bag Systems
This part explains the frontal and side impact air bag
systems.
Your vehicle has four air bags ± a frontal air bag for the
driver, another frontal air bag for the passenger, a
side impact air bag for the driver, and another side
impact air bag for the passenger.
Frontal air bags are designed to help reduce the risk of
injury from the force of an in¯ating frontal air bag.
But these air bags must in¯ate very quickly to do their
job and comply with federal regulations.
Here are the most important things to know about the
air bag systems:
{CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash
if you are not wearing your safety belt ± even if
you have air bags. Wearing your safety belt
during a crash helps reduce your chance of
hitting things inside the vehicle or being ejected
from it.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
Air bags are designed to work with safety belts
but do not replace them.
Frontal air bags for the driver and passenger
are designed to deploy only in moderate to
severe frontal and near frontal crashes. They
are not designed to in¯ate at all in rollover,
rear or low-speed frontal crashes, or in many
side crashes. And, for some unrestrained
occupants, frontal air bags may provide less
protection in frontal crashes than more
forceful air bags have provided in the past.
The side impact air bags for the driver and
passenger are designed to in¯ate only in
moderate to severe crashes where something
hits the side of your vehicle. They are not
designed to in¯ate in frontal, in rollover or in
rear crashes.
Everyone in your vehicle should wear a safety
belt properly ± whether or not there is an air
bag for that person.
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{CAUTION:
Both frontal and side impact air bags in¯ate
with great force, faster than the blink of an
eye. If you are too close to an in¯ating air bag,
as you would be if you were leaning forward, it
could seriously injure you. Safety belts help
keep you in position for air bag in¯ation before
and during a crash. Always wear your safety
belt, even with frontal air bags. The driver
should sit as far back as possible while still
maintaining control of the vehicle. Front
occupants should not lean on or sleep against
the door.
{CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close to,
any air bag when it in¯ates can be seriously
injured or killed. 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. To read how,
see the part of this manual called ªOlder
Childrenº or ªInfants and Young Children.º
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What Makes an Air Bag In¯ate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. For
both frontal and side impact air bags, the sensing
system triggers a release of gas from the in¯ator, which
in¯ates the air bag. The in¯ator, the air bag and
related hardware are all part of the air bag modules
inside the steering wheel, the instrument panel, and the
side of the front seatbacks closest to the door.
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. In moderate to severe side
collisions, even belted occupants can contact the inside
of the vehicle. 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 the
frontal air bags would not help you in many types
of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts, and many
side impacts, primarily because an occupant's motion
is not toward the air bag. Side impact air bags would not
help you in many types of collisions, including frontal
or near frontal collisions, rollovers, and rear impacts,primarily because an occupant's motion is not toward
those air bags. 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 for the driver's and passenger's frontal
air bags, and only in moderate to severe side collisions
for the driver's and passenger's side impact air bag.
What Will You See After an Air Bag
In¯ates?
After the air bag in¯ates, it quickly de¯ates, so quickly
that some people may not even realize the air bag
in¯ated. Some components of the air bag module ± the
steering wheel hub for the driver's air bag, the
instrument panel for the passenger's bag, the side of
the seatback closest to the door for the driver's
and passenger's side impact air bags ± will be hot for a
short time. The parts of the bag that come into
contact with you may be warm, but not too hot to touch.
There will be some smoke and dust coming from the
vents in the de¯ated air bags. Air bag in¯ation does not
prevent the driver from seeing or being able to steer
the vehicle, nor does it stop people from leaving
the vehicle.
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{CAUTION:
When an air bag in¯ates, 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 not get out of the vehicle after an air bag
in¯ates, then get fresh air by opening a
window or a door. If you experience breathing
problems following an air bag deployment, you
should seek medical attention.
In many crashes severe enough to in¯ate the air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
passenger air bag.
·Air bags are designed to in¯ate only once. After an
air bag in¯ates, you will need some new parts for
your air bag system. If you do not get them, the air
bag system will not be there to help protect youin 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 diagnostic module,
which records information about the air bag
system. The module records information about the
readiness of the system, when the system
commands air bag in¯ation and driver's safety belt
usage at deployment. The module also records
speed, engine rpm, brake and throttle data.
·Let only quali®ed technicians work on your air bag
systems. Improper service can mean that an air
bag system will not work properly. See your dealer
for service.
Notice:If you damage the covering for the driver's
or the passenger's air bags, the bags 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
passenger's air bags. Do not open or break the air
bag coverings.
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