GMC CANYON 2010 Repair Manual

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 do not wear safety belts.
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.
The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the
mother. When a safety belt is worn properly, it is
more likely that the fetus will not be hurt in a crash.
For pregnant women, as for anyone, the key to making
safety belts effective is wearing them properly.
Lap Belt
This section is only for the lap belt. To learn how to
wear a lap-shoulder belt, seeLap-Shoulder Belt
on page 2-27.
The vehicle may have a center seating position. When
you sit in the center front 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.
Buckle, position, and release it the same way as the lap
part of a lap-shoulder belt.
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To make the belt shorter, pull its free end as shown
until the belt is snug.
If the belt is not long enough, seeSafety Belt Extender
on page 2-34.
Make sure the release button on the buckle is positioned
so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt
quickly if necessary.
Safety Belt Extender
If the vehicle’s safety belt will fasten around you, you
should use it.
But if a safety belt is not long enough, your dealer/retailer
will order you an extender. When you go in to order it,
take the heaviest coat you will wear, so the extender will
be long enough for you. To help avoid personal injury, do
not let someone else use it, and use it only for the seat it
is made to fit. The extender has been designed for adults.
Never use it for securing child seats. To wear it, attach it
to the regular safety belt. For more information, see the
instruction sheet that comes with the extender.
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Child Restraints
Older Children
Older children who have outgrown booster seats should
wear the vehicle’s safety belts.The manufacturer’s instructions that come with the
booster seat, state the weight and height limitations for
that booster. Use a booster seat with a lap-shoulder
belt until the child passes the below fit test:
•Sit all the way back on the seat. Do the knees bend
at the seat edge? If yes, continue. If no, return to
the booster seat.
•Buckle the lap-shoulder belt. Does the shoulder belt
rest on the shoulder? If yes, continue. If no, try
using the rear safety belt comfort guide. See “Rear
Safety Belt Comfort Guides” underLap-Shoulder
Belt on page 2-27for more information. If the
shoulder belt still does not rest on the shoulder,
then return to the booster seat.
•Does the lap belt fit low and snug on the hips,
touching the thighs? If yes, continue. If no, return to
the booster seat.
•Can proper safety belt fit be maintained for length
of trip? If yes, continue. If no, return to the
booster seat.
If you have the choice, a child should sit in a position
with a lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a
shoulder belt can provide.
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Q:What is the proper way to wear safety belts?
A: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 fit snugly below the hips,
just touching the top of the thighs. This applies belt
force to the child’s pelvic bones in a crash. It should
never be worn over the abdomen, which could cause
severe or even fatal internal injuries in a crash.
Also see “Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides” under
Lap-Shoulder Belt on page 2-27.
According to accident statistics, children and infants are
safer when properly restrained in the rear seating
positions than in the front seating positions.
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.{WARNING:
Never do this.
Never allow two children to wear the same safety
belt. The safety belt can not properly spread the
impact forces. In a crash, the two children can be
crushed together and seriously injured. A safety
belt must be used by only one person at a time.
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{WARNING:
Never do this.
Never allow a child to wear the safety belt with the
shoulder belt behind their back. A child can be
seriously injured by not wearing the lap-shoulder
belt properly. In a crash, the child would not be
restrained by the shoulder belt. The child could
move too far forward increasing the chance of
head and neck injury. The child might also slide
under the lap belt. The belt force would then be
applied right on the abdomen. That could cause
serious or fatal injuries. The shoulder belt should
go over the shoulder and across the chest.
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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.
{WARNING:
Children can be seriously injured or strangled if a
shoulder belt is wrapped around their neck and
the safety belt continues to tighten. Never leave
children unattended in a vehicle and never allow
children to play with the safety belts.Airbags plus lap-shoulder belts offer protection for adults
and older children, but not for young children and infants.
Neither the vehicle’s safety belt system nor its airbag
system is designed for them. Every time infants and
young children ride in vehicles, they should have the
protection provided by appropriate child restraints.
Children who are not restrained properly can strike other
people, or can be thrown out of the vehicle.
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{WARNING:
Never do this.
Never hold an infant or a child while riding in a
vehicle. Due to crash forces, an infant or a child
will become so heavy it is not possible to hold it
during a crash. For example, in a crash at only
40 km/h (25 mph), a 5.5 kg (12 lb) infant will
suddenly become a 110 kg (240 lb) force on a
person’s arms. An infant should be secured in an
appropriate restraint.
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{WARNING:
Never do this.
Children who are up against, or very close to, any
airbag when it inflates can be seriously injured or
killed. Never put a rear-facing child restraint in the
right front seat. Secure a rear-facing child restraint
in a rear seat. It is also better to secure a
forward-facing child restraint in a rear seat. If you
must secure a forward-facing child restraint in the
right front seat, always move the front passenger
seat as far back as it will go.
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.
{WARNING:
To reduce the risk of neck and head injury during
a crash, infants need complete support. This is
because an infant’s neck is not fully developed
and its head weighs so much compared with the
rest of its body. In a crash, an infant in a
rear-facing child restraint 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 should always be secured in
rear-facing child restraints.
{WARNING:
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 is
unprotected by any bony structure. This alone
could cause serious or fatal injuries. To reduce the
risk of serious or fatal injuries during a crash,
young children should always be secured in
appropriate child restraints.
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Child Restraint Systems
A rear-facing infant
seat (A) provides restraint
with the seating surface
against the back of
the infant.
The harness system holds the infant in place and,
in a crash, acts to keep the infant positioned in
the restraint.
A forward-facing child
seat (B) provides restraint
for the child’s body
with the harness.A booster seat (C-D) is a child restraint designed to
improve the fit of the vehicle’s safety belt system.
A booster seat can also help a child to see out the
window.
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