seats CHEVROLET AVALANCHE 2003 1.G User Guide

The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the
mother. When a safety belt is worn properly, it's more
likely that the fetus won't be hurt in a crash. For
pregnant women, as for anyone, the key to making
safety belts effective is wearing them properly.
Right Front Passenger Position
To learn how to wear the right front passenger's safety
belt properly, seeDriver Position on page 1-16.
The right front passenger's safety belt works the same
way as the driver's safety beltÐexcept for one thing.
If you ever pull the shoulder portion of the belt out all the
way, you will engage the child restraint locking feature
which may turn off the passenger's frontal air bag. If this
happens unintentionally, just let the belt go back all
the way and start again.
Center Passenger Position
If your vehicle has front and rear bench seats, someone
can sit in the center positions.
When you sit in the center rear seat position, you have
a lap-shoulder blet which works the same way as
the rear outside seat positions. To learn how to wear
this belt see ªLap-Shoulder Beltº under
Rear Seat
Passengers on page 1-26.
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Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
Your vehicle may have this feature already. If it doesn't,
you can get it from any GM dealer.
Rear shoulder belt comfort guides will provide added
safety belt comfort for older children who have outgrown
booster seats and for small adults. When installed on
a shoulder belt, the comfort guide better positions
the belt away from the neck and head.
There is one guide available for each outside passenger
position in the rear seat. Here's how to install a
comfort guide and use the safety belt:
1. Remove the guide from the storage clip on the side
of the rear seatback.
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Child Restraints
Older Children
Older children who have outgrown booster seats should
wear the vehicle's safety belts.
If you have the choice, a child should sit in a seat that
has a lap-shoulder belt to get the additional restraint
a shoulder belt can provide.
Q:What is the proper way to wear safety belts?
A:If possible, an older child should wear a
lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a
shoulder belt can provide. The shoulder belt
should not cross the face or neck. The lap belt
should ®t snugly below the hips, just touching the
top of the thighs. It should never be worn over
the abdomen, which could cause severe or even
fatal internal injuries in a crash.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear seat.
In a crash, children who are not buckled up can strike
other people who are buckled up, or can be thrown
out of the vehicle. Older children need to use safety
belts properly.
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A forward-facing child seat (C-E) provides restraint for
the child's body with the harness and also sometimes
with surfaces such as T-shaped or shelf-like shields.A booster seat (F-G) is a child restraint designed to
improve the ®t of the vehicle's safety belt system. Some
booster seats have a shoulder belt positioner, and
some high-back booster seats have a ®ve-point harness.
A booster seat can also help a child to see out the
window.
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You'll be using the lap-shoulder belt. SeeTop Strap on
page 1-42if 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. Because your vehicle has a right front passenger
air bag, always move the seat as far back as it will
go before securing a child restraint, if you need
to secure a forward-facing child restraint in the right
front seat position. See
Power Seats on page 1-2orManual Passenger Seat on page 1-2.
If your vehicle has the passenger sensing system
and you are using a rear-facing child restraint in this
seat, make sure the frontal air bag is off. See
Passenger Sensing System on page 1-62.
When the passenger sensing system has turned off
the right front passenger's frontal air bag, the off
indicator on the inside rearview mirror will light and
stay lit when you turn the ignition to RUN or
START.
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.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.
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Seat Position Sensors
Vehicles with dual stage air bags are also equipped with
special sensors which enable the sensing system to
monitor the position of both the driver and passenger
front seats. The seat position sensor provides
information which is used to determine if the air bags
should deploy at a reduced level or at full depoyment.
Side Impact Air Bags
Your vehicle may or may not have a side impact air
bag. SeeAir Bag Systems on page 1-52. Side impact air
bags are designed to in¯ate in moderate to severe
side crashes. A side impact air bag will in¯ate if
the crash severity is above the system's designed
ªthreshold level.º The threshold level can vary with
speci®c vehicle design. Side impact air bags are
not designed to in¯ate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers or rear impacts, because in¯ation would not
help the occupant. A side impact air bag will only deploy
on the side of the vehicle that is struck.
Air Bag Systems
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have in¯ated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
For frontal air bags, in¯ation is determined by the angle
of the impact and how quickly the vehicle slows down
in frontal and near-frontal impacts. For side impact
air bags, in¯ation is determined by the location
and severity of the impact.
The air bag system is designed to work properly under
a wide range of conditions, including off-road usage.
Observe safe driving speeds, especially on rough
terrain. As always, wear your safety belt. See Off-Road
Driving with Your Four-Wheel Drive Vehicle in the
Index for tips on off-road driving.
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The following are the main components of the midgate
system:
A. Latch Levers
B. Grab Handles
C. Glass-Catch Release Button
D. Glass Lock Knobs
E. Window Retaining Tabs
F. Midgate Release Handle
G. Window Alignment ArrowsRear Glass Removal and Storage
{CAUTION:
If the removable rear glass is not stored
properly, it could be thrown about the vehicle
in a crash or sudden maneuver. People in the
vehicle could be injured. Whenever you store
the rear glass in the vehicle, always be sure
that it is stored securely in the midgate
storage pocket.
Do not remove the rear glass when the rear defroster is
on. If you remove the rear glass with the rear defroster
on, you may see a discharge spark coming from
the latch area.
To remove the rear glass do the following:
1. Fold the rear seats. See
Rear Seat Operation on
page 1-8for more information. The front seats
may have to be moved forward slightly to allow the
rear seats to fold completely.
Although the rear glass can be removed without
folding the rear seats, you will not be able to access
the rear glass storage pocket. Be sure to fold the
seats
beforeremoving the rear glass.
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6. Turn both glass lock knobs (D), located at both top
corners of the storage pocket, to the locked
position. You may need to push the corner of the
rear glass to allow the lock knob to engage
more easily.Once both glass lock knobs are in the locked
position, the rear glass is securely stored.
7. Push both latch levers (A) up to the locked position.
You should hear a click when each latch lever locks
correctly.
Rear seats can be returned to the normal position
when the rear glass is out and stored properly in the
storage pocket.
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To lower the Midgate, do the following:
1. Fold the rear seats. The front seats might have to
be moved forward slightly to allow the rear seats to
fold. See
Rear Seat Operation on page 1-8for
more information.
At this point you may choose to remove the rear
glass following the instructions given previously or
leave the rear glass in place.
2. Standing outside of the vehicle, place one hand
against the Midgate so it does not fall forward
unexpectedly. Turn the Midgate handle clockwise
and pull the Midgate toward you.3. Lower the Midgate until it is ¯at.
Rear Glass in Normal Position
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If the mirrors are accidently manually folded in or you
notice that the mirrors will not stay in the unfolded
position, unfold and fold them at least twice using the
mirror controls. Do not unfold them manually. The
mirrors may not stay in place otherwise.
The mirrors may also include a memory function which
works in conjunction with the memory seats. See
Memory Seat on page 2-85for more information.
Outside Convex Mirror
Your passenger's side mirror is convex. A convex
mirror's surface is curved so you can see more from the
driver's seat.
{CAUTION:
A convex mirror can make things (like other
vehicles) look farther away than they really are.
If you cut too sharply into the right lane, you
could hit a vehicle on your right. Check your
inside mirror or glance over your shoulder
before changing lanes.
Outside Heated Mirrors
Your vehicle may have this feature.
When you press this
button, a defogger warms
the heated driver's and
passenger's outside
rearview mirrors to help
clear them of ice,
snow and condensation.
If your vehicle has a rear window defogger, it will also
operate when you press this button. See ªRear Window
Defoggerº under
Automatic Climate Control System
on page 3-20for more information.
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