belt CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2003 1.G Owner's Manual

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 seat comfort guides 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
in the rear seat. Here's how to install a comfort guide
and use the safety belt:
1. Remove the guide from its storage clip on the
interior body.
2. Place the guide over the belt and insert the two
edges of the belt into the slots of the guide.
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3. Be sure that the belt is not twisted and it lies ¯at.
The guide must be on top of the belt.4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described inRear Seat Passengers on page 1-26.
Make sure that the shoulder belt crosses the
shoulder.
To remove and store the comfort guides, squeeze the
belt edges together so that you can take them out of the
guides. Slide the guide onto the storage clip.
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Safety Belt Extender
If the vehicle's safety belt will fasten around you, you
should use it.
But if a safety belt isn't long enough to fasten, your
dealer will order you an extender. It's free. When you go
in to order it, take the heaviest coat you will wear, so
the extender will be long enough for you. The extender
will be just for you, and just for the seat in your
vehicle that you choose. Don't let someone else use it,
and use it only for the seat it is made to ®t. To wear
it, just attach it to the regular safety belt.
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.
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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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{CAUTION:
Never do this.
Here two children are wearing the same belt.
The belt can't properly spread the impact
forces. In a crash, the two children can be
crushed together and seriously injured. A belt
must be used by only one person at a time.
Q:What if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt,
but the child is so small that the shoulder belt
is very close to the child's face or neck?
A:If the child is sitting in a rear outside seat position,
move the child toward the center of the vehicle.
See
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children
and Small Adults on page 1-29
. If the child is
sitting in the center rear seat position of a crew
cab, move the child toward the safety belt buckle.
In either case be sure that the shoulder belt
still is on the child's shoulder, so that in a crash
the child's upper body would have the restraint that
belts provide.
If the child is so small that the shoulder belt is still
very close to the child's face or neck, you might
want to place the child a seat that has a lap belt, if
your vehicle has one.
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{CAUTION:
Never do this.
Here a child is sitting in a seat that has a
lap-shoulder belt, but the shoulder part is
behind the child. If the child wears the belt in
this way, in a crash the child might slide under
the belt. The belt's force would then be applied
right on the child's abdomen. That could cause
serious or fatal injuries.
Wherever the child sits, the lap portion of the belt
should be worn low and snug on the hips, just touching
the child's thighs. This applies belt force to the child's
pelvic bones in a crash.
Infants and Young Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! This includes
infants and all other children. 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.
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Every time infants and young children ride in vehicles,
they should have the protection provided by appropriate
restraints. Young children should not use the vehicle's
adult safety belts alone, unless there is no other choice.
Instead, they need to use a child restraint.
{CAUTION:
People should never hold a baby in their arms
while riding in a vehicle. A baby doesn't weigh
much -- until a crash. During a crash a baby
will become so heavy it is not possible to hold
it. For example, in a crash at only 25 mph
(40 km/h), a 12-lb. (5.5 kg) baby will suddenly
become a 240-lb. (110 kg) force on a person's
arms. A baby should be secured in an
appropriate restraint.
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{CAUTION:
Children who are 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 outstanding 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.
Q:What are the different types of add-on child
restraints?
A:Add-on child restraints, which are purchased by
the vehicle's owner, are available in four basic
types. Selection of a particular restraint should take
into consideration not only the child's weight,
height and age but also whether or not the restraint
will be compatible with the motor vehicle in
which it will be used.
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For most basic types of child restraints, there are
many different models available. When purchasing a
child restraint, be sure it is designed to be used
in a motor vehicle. If it is, the restraint will have a
label saying that it meets federal motor vehicle
safety standards.
The restraint manufacturer's instructions that come
with the restraint state the weight and height
limitations for a particular child restraint. In addition,
there are many kinds of restraints available for
children with special needs.
{CAUTION:
Newborn infants need complete support,
including support for the head and neck. This is
necessary because a newborn 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 seat settles into the restraint, so the
crash forces can be distributed across the
strongest part of an infant's body, the back and
shoulders. Infants always should be secured in
appropriate infant restraints.
{CAUTION:
The body structure of a young child is quite
unlike that of an adult or older child, for whom
the safety belts are designed. A young child's
hip bones are still so small that the vehicle's
regular safety belt may not remain low on the
hip bones, as it should. Instead, it may settle
up around the child's abdomen. In a crash, the
belt would apply force on a body area that's
unprotected by any bony structure. This alone
could cause serious or fatal injuries. Young
children always should be secured in
appropriate child restraints.
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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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