belt GMC SAVANA 1998 Owner's Guide

Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children and Small Adults
Your vehicle may have rear shoulder belt comfort guides.
This feature will provide added safety belt comfort for
children who have outgrown child restraints and for small
adults. When installed
on a shoulder belt, the comfort
guide pulls the belt away
from the neck and head.
There is one guide for each outside passenger position in
the rear seats.
To provide added safety belt comfort for
children who have outgrown child restraints and for
smaller adults, the comfort guides may be installed on
the shoulder belts. Here’s how to install a comfort guide
and use the safety belt:
1. Remove the guide from its storage clip on the side of
the seatback.
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2. Slide the guide under and past the belt. The elastic
cord must be under the belt. Then, place the guide
over the belt, and insert the two edges
of the belt into
the slots
of the guide.
3. Be sure that the belt is not twisted and it lies flat.
The elastic cord must be under the belt and the guide
on top.
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4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described
in “Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions”
earlier in this section. 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 from
the guides. Slide
the guide onto the storage clip.
Center Passenger Position
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Lap Belt
If your vehicle has rear bench seats, someone can sit in
the center positions.
When you sit
in a center 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.
To make the belt shorter, pull its free end as shown until
the belt is snug.
Buckle, position and release it the same way as the lap
part of
a lap-shoulder belt. 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.
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Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
infants and all children smaller than adult size. 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.
Smaller Children and Babies (Except Cargo
Vans
with Passenger Air Bags)
Children who are up against, or very close to, any
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. This
is true even if your vehicle has
reduced-force frontal air bags.
Air bags plus
lap-shoulder belts offer the best protection for
adults, 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.
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A CAUTION:
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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Smaller Children and Babies (Cargo Vans
with Passenger Air Bags)
Children who are up against, or very close to, any
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. This is true even if your vehicle has
reduced-force frontal air bags. Air bags plus
lap-shoulder belts offer the best protection for
adults, 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.
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. Smaller children
and babies should always be restrained in a child
restraint. However, infants, who should be
restrained in a rear-facing child restraint, cannot
ride safely in this vehicle. The instructions for the
restraint will say whether it
is the right type and
size for your child.
If a forward-facing child
restraint is suitable for your child, be sure the
child is always properly restrained while riding in
this vehicle.
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A booster seat (F, G) is designed for children who
are about
40 to 60 lbs. (18 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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w nen cnoosing a child restraint, 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 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 (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,
never 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 if 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. If your vehicle has a right front passenger’s
air bag, always secure a rear-facing child
restraint in a rear seat.
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.
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.
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Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show
you how.
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
If the shoulder belt goes in front of the child’s face or
neck, put
it behind the child restraint.
I
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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