child seat GMC SAVANA 1996 Owners Manual

How to Wear- Safety Belts Properly
Adults
This part is only for people of adult size.
Be aware that there are special things to know about
safety belts and children. And there are different rules
for smaller children and babies. If a child will be riding
in your vehicle, see the
part of this manual called
“Children.” Follow those rules
for everyone’s protection.
First, you’ll want
to know which restraint systems your
vehicle has.
We’ll start with the driver position.
Driver Position
This part describes the driver’s restraint system.
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The driver has a lap-shoulder belt. Here’s how to wear
it properly.
1. Close and lock the door.
2. Adjust the seat (to see how, see “Seats” in the Index)
so you can sit up straight.
3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t
let it get twisted.
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
Pull up
on the latch plate to make sure it is secure.
If the belt isn’t long enough, see “Safety Belt
Extender” at the end
of this section.
Make sure the release button on the buckle
is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt
quickly if you ever had to.
1-13
ProCarManuals.com

CAUTION: (Continued)
at only 25 mph
(40 km/h), a 124b. (5.5 kg) baby
will suddenly become
a 240-lb. (110 kg) force on
your arms. The baby would be almost impossible
to hold.
Child Restraints
Be sure the child restraint is designed 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 infmt or child
restraint will show
you how to do that.
Where to Put the Restraint (Except Cargo
Vans and Cab and Chassis
Models)
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. If your vehicle has a front passenger
air bag, rzc~wr put a
rear-fxing child restraint
in the front passenger seat. Here’s why:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured
if the right front passenger’s
air bag inflates. This is because the back of a
rear-facing child restraint would be very close to
the inflating
air bag. If your vehicle has a right
front passenger’s air bag, always secure a rear-facing child restraint in
a rear seat.
You may, however, secure
a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front seat. Before you secure
a forward-facing child restraint, always move the
front passenger seat as
far back as it will go. Or,
secure the child restraint
in a rear seat.
Wherever you install
it, be sure to secure the child
restraint properly.
Keep
in mind that an 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.
1-37
ProCarManuals.com

Where to Put the Restraint (Cargo Vans
and Cab and Chassis
Models)
The child restraint must be secured properly in the
passenger seat.
If your vehicle has a passenger air bag,
never put a rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle.
Here’s w,hy:
~
A child in a rearfacing child restraint can be
seriously injured
if the passenger’s air bag
inflates. This is because the back of a rear-facing
child restraint would be
very close to the inflating
air bag.
Do not use a rear-facing child restraint in
this vehicle.
If a forward-facing child restraint is suitable for
your child, always move the passenger seat as far
back as it will go.
Keep in mind that an 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.
Top Strap
If your child restraint has a top strap, it should be
anchored.
If you need to have an anchor installed, you
can ask your
GM dealer to put it in for you. If you want
to install an anchor yourself, your dealer can tell you
how to do it.
1-38 1
ProCarManuals.com

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.
1.
2.
3.
Put the restraint on the seat. Follow the instructions
for the child restraint.
Secure the child in the child restraint as the
instructions say.
Pick up the latch plate, and
run the lap and shoulder
portions of the yehicle’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.
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.
1-39
ProCarManuals.com

Securing a Child Restraint in a
Center Seat Position
You’ll be using the lap belt.
See the earlier part about the top strap
if the child
restraint has one.
1.
2.
3.
Make the belt as long as possible by tilting the latch
plate and pulling it along the belt.
Put
the restraint on the seat. Follow the instructions
for
the child restraint. 9
Secure the child in the child restraint as the
instructions say,
1-41
ProCarManuals.com

4. Run the vehicle’s safety belt through or around the
restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show
you how.
5. 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.
6. To tighten the belt, pull its free end while you push
down on the child restraint.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure
it is secure. If it isn’t, secure the
restraint
in B different place in the vehicle and
contact the child restraint maker for their advice
about how to attach the child restraint properly.
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt.
It will be ready to work for an adult or larger
child passenger.
Securing a Child Restraint in the Right
Front Seat Position
1-42
ProCarManuals.com

If your vehicle has a front passenger air bag, never put a
rear-facing child restraint in this seat. Here’s why:
A CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured if the front passenger’s air bag
inflates. This is because the back of a rear-facing
child restraint would be very close to the inflating
air bag.
If your vehicle is a passenger van, always
secure a rear-facing child restraint in
a rear seat.
If your vehicle is
a cargo van, do not use a
rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle. If a
forward-facing child restraint is suitable for your child, always move the passenger seat as far back
as it will
go.
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about the top strap if the child restraint has
one.
1.
2.
3.
4.
If your vehicle has a 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. Follow the instructions
for the child restraint.
Secure the child
in the child restraint as the
instructions say.
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.
1-43
ProCarManuals.com

Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained
in the rear seat. But they need to use the
safety belts properly.
0 Children who aren’t buckled up can be thrown out in
a crash.
0 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
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.
6
ProCarManuals.com

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.
1-47
ProCarManuals.com

The CertificatiodTire label also tells you the maximum
weights for the front and rear axles, called Gross Axle
Weight Rating (GAWR).
To fine out the actual loads
on your front and rear axles, you need
to go to a weigh
station and weigh your vehicle. Your dealer can help
you with this.
Be sure to spread out your load equally
on both sides of the centerline.
Never exceed the GVWR for your vehicle,
or the
GAWR for either the front or rear axle.
And, if
you do have a heavy load, you should spread
it
out.
Do not load your vehicle any heavier than
the
GVWR, or either the maximum front or
rear
GAWR. If you do, parts on your vehicle
can break, or it can change the way your
vehicle handles. These could cause you to lose
control. Also, overloading can shorten the life Things
you put inside your vehicle can strike
and injure people in a sudden stop or turn,
or
in a crash.
0 Put things in the cargo area of your vehicle.
Try to spread the weight evenly.
Never stack heavier things, like suitcases,
inside the vehicle
so that some of them are
above the tops of the seats.
Don’t leave an unsecured child restraint in
your vehicle.
When you carry something inside the
vehicle, secure it whenever you can.
Don’t leave a seat folded down unless you
need
to.
L
ProCarManuals.com