belt CHEVROLET MALIBU 1998 User Guide

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 5. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder belt. The lap part of the belt should be worn low and snug 6fi
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.
The safety belt locks
if there’s a sudden stop or crash, or
if you pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Shoulder Belt Height Adjuster
Before you begin to drive, move the shoulder belt
adjuster to the height that
is right for you.
To move it down, squeeze the release button and move
the adjuster to the desired position. You can move the
adjuster up just by pushing up on the shoulder belt
guide. After you move the adjuster to where you want it,
try to move it down without squeezing the release button
to make sure it has locked into position.
Adjust the height
so that the shoulder portion of the
belt is centered on your shoulder. The belt should be
away from your face and neck, but not falling
off
your shoulder.
,
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine e.’ What’s wrong with this?
I
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.
I
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Q.' What's wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
I , 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.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Q: What's wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be
worn over the shoulder at all times.
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.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine @' What's wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body.
A * UTION:
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.

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.
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Safety belts work for everyone, including pregnant
women. Like all occupants, they are more likely to be
seriously injured if they don’t wear safety belts.
0 I
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.
A pregnant woman should wear a lap-shoulder belt, and
the lap portion should be worn as low as possible, below
the rounding, throughout the pregnancy.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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
1 safety belts effective is wearing them properly.
Right Front Passenger Position
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same
way as the driver’s safety belt. See “Driver Position”
earlier in this section.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS) or air bag system.
Your vehicle has “Next Generation” reduced-force
frontal
air bags -- one air bag for the driver and another
air bag for the right front passenger. Reduced-force
frontal air bags are designed to help reduce the risk of
injury from the force of an inflating air bag. But even
these air bags must inflate very quickly if they are to do
their job and comply with federal regulations.
Here are the most important things to know about the air
bag system:
You can be severely injured
or killed in a crash I
if you aren’t 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. Air bags are “supplemental restraints”
to the safety belts.
All air bags -- even
reduced-force
air bags -- are designed to work
with safety belts, but don’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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine ontinue
And, for unrestrained occupants, reduced-force
air bags may provide less protection in frontal
crashes than more forceful air bags have
provided in the past. Everyone in your vehicle 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 could seriously injure you. This is true
even with reduced-force frontal air bags. Safety
belts help keep you in position before and during
a crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with
reduced-force air bags. The driver should sit as
far back as possible while still maintaining
control of the vehicle.
A CAUTI-”:
I
-1 -
Children who are up against, or very close to, an
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 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. To read how, see the part of this manual
called “Children” and see the caution labels on
the sunvisors and the right front passenger’s
safety belt.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine When should an air bag inflate?
An air bag is designed to inflate in a moderate to severe
frontal or newfrontal crash. 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 14 mph (14 to 23 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
how quickly the vehicle slows down
in frontal or
near-frontal impacts.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in
a crash. The sensing
system triggers a release of gas from the inflator, which
inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related
hardware are all part
of the air bag modules 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. Air bags supplement 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
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.