belt GMC ENVOY 1998 Owner's Guide

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Smaller children and babies should always be
restrained in a child or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint will
say whether it is
the right type and size for your child.
A very
young child’s hip bones are
so small that a
regular belt might not stay low on the hips, as it
should. Instead, the belt will likely be over the
child’s abdomen.
In a crash, the belt would apply
force right on the child’s abdomen, which could
cause serious or fatal injuries.
So, be sure that
any child small enough for one is always properly
restrained in
a child or infant restraint.
Infants need complete support, including support for the
head
and neck. This is necessary because an 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 restraint settles into the restraint, so the crash
forces can be distributed across the strongest part
of the
infant’s body, the back and shoulders. A baby should
be secured in an appropriate infant restraint. This is so
important that many hospitals today won’t release a
newborn infant to its parents unless there is an infant
restraint available for the baby’s first trip in
a
motor vehicle.
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A booster seat (F, G) is designed for children who
are about
40 to 60 lbs. (1 8 to 27 kg) and about four
to eight years of age. It’s designed to improve the
fit of the vehicle’s safety belt system. Booster seats
with shields use lap-only belts; however, booster
seats without shields use lap-shoulder belts.
Booster seats can also help a child to see out the window.
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When choosing a child restraint, be sure the child
restraint
is desigmd 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
find 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.
The instructions that come with the
infant or child
restraint
will show you how to do that. Both the owner’s
manual and
the child restraint instructions are important,
so if either one of these is not available, obtain a
replacement copy from the manufacturer.
Where to Put the Restraint
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained
in the rear rather than the front seat. We at
General Motors therefore recommend that you put your
child restraint
in a rear seat outside position. N~wr put a
rear-facing child restraint in the front passenger seat.
Here’s
why:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s air bag inflates, even though your
vehicle has reduced-force frontal air bags. This
i
because the back of the rear-facing child
restraint would be very close to the inflating air
bag. Always secure a rear-facing child restraint
in a rear seat outside position.
You may secure a forward-facing child restraint
in the right front seat, but before you do, always
move the front passenger seat as far back as it
will go. It’s better to secure the child restraint in
a rear seat outside position.
Wherever you install it. be sure to secure the child
restraint properly.
Keep
in mind that a11 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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Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about the top strap if 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. Put the restraint on the seat.
2. 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.
If the shoulder belt goes in front of the child’s face or
neck, put
it behind the child restraint.
3. 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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4. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of
the retractor to ‘set the lock. 5. To tighten the belt, feed the shoulder belt back into
the retractor while you push down
on the child
restraint. If you’re using a forward-facing child
restraint, you may find it helpful
to use your knee
to push down on the child restraint as you tighten
the belt.
6. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure
it is secure.
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To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s Securing a Child Restraint in the Right
safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety belt Front Seat, Position
will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult
or larger child passenger.
Center Seat Position
Don’t use child restraints in this position. The restraints
won’t work properly. Your
vehicle has
a right front passenger air bag. Never
put a rear-facing child restraint in this seat. Here’s why:
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A CAULON:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed
if the right front
passenger’s air bag inflates, even though your
vehicle has reduced-force frontal air bags. This
is
because the back of the rear-facing child
restraint would be very close to the inflating air
bag. Always secure a rear-facing child restraint
in the rear seat.
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about the top strap if 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.
2.
3.
Because your vehicle has a right front passenger air
bag, always move the seat as far back as it will
go
before securing a forward-facing child restraint. (See
“Seats” in the Index.)
Put the restraint on the seat.
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.
If the shoulder belt goes in front of the child’s face or
neck, put it behind the child restraint.
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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.
e
P
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 find it helpful to use your knee to push down
on the child restraint as you tighten
the belt.
I. 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. Children who have outgrown child restraints should
wear the vehicle’s safety belts.
If you have the choice, a child should sit next to a window
so the child can wear a lap-shoulder belt and
get the additional restraint a shoulder belt can provide.
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Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear seat. But they need
to use the
safety belts properly.
Children who aren’t buckled up can be thrown out in
a crash.
Children who aren’t buckled up can strike other
people who
are.
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.
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: Move the child toward the center of the vehicle, but
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 sitting in a rear seat outside position, see
“Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides’’ in the Index.
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 in a seat that has a lap belt,
if your vehicle has one.
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