GMC SIERRA 1998 Owner's Guide

&: What’s wrong with this?
n
A: The belt is over an armrest.
A WTION:
P-
You can be seriously injured if your belt goes
over an armrest like this. The belt would be much
too high. In a crash, you can slide under the belt.
The belt force would then be applied at the
abdomen, not at the pelvic bones, and that could
cause serious or fatal injuries. Be sure the belt
goes under the armrests.
1-19
ProCarManuals.com

2; What’s wrong with this?
I
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be
worn over the shoulder at all times.
I --
You can be seriously injured if you wear the
shoulder belt under
your arm. In a crash, your
body would move too far forward, which would
increase the chance of head and neck injury.
Also, the belt would apply too much force
to the
ribs, which aren’t
as strong as shoulder bones.
You could also severely injure internal organs
like your liver or spleen.
1-20
ProCarManuals.com

Q." What's wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body.
You can be seriously injured by a twisted belt. In
a crash, you wouldn't have the full width of the
belt to spread impact forces. If a belt is twisted,
make it straight
so it can work properly, or ask
your dealer to
fix it.
1-21
ProCarManuals.com

To unlatch the beIt, just push the button on the buckle.
The belt should go back out of the way.
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 don't wear safety belts.
Before you close the door, be sure the belt is out of the
way. I€ YOU slaurr the door an it, you can damage both the
belt and your vehicle.
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.
1-22
ProCarManuals.com

The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the
mother. When
a safety belt is worn properly, it’s more
likely that the fetus
won’t be hurt in a crash. For
pregnant women,
as for anyone, the key to making
safety belts effective
is wearing them properly.
Right Front Passenger Position
To learn how to wear the right front passenger’s
safety belt properly, see “Driver Position” earlier in
this section.
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same
way as the driver’s safety belt
-- except for one thing. If
you ever pull the lap portion of the belt out all the way,
you will engage
the child restraint locking feature. If
this happens, just let the belt go back all the way and
start again.
Air Bag System
This part explains the air bag system.
Your vehicle may have a
“Next Generation’‘
reduced-force frontal air
bag for the driver and
another “Next Generation”
reduced-force frontal air
bag for the right front
passenger. If
it does, it will
say AIR BAG
on the middle
part
of the steering wheel.
Reduced-force frontal air
bags are designed to help
reduce the risk of injury from the force of
an inflating
air bag. But even these air bags must inflate very
quickly
if they are to do their job and comply with
federal regulations.
1-23
ProCarManuals.com

You can be severely injured or killed in a crash if
you aren’t wearing your safety belt -- even if you
have air bags. Wearing your safety belt during
a
crash helps reduce your chance of hitting things
inside the vehicle or being ejected from
it. Air
bags are “supplemental restraints” to the safety
belts. All air bags
-- even reduced-force air
bags
-- are designed to work with safety belts,
but don’t replace them.
Air bags are designed to
work only in moderate to severe crashes where
the front of your vehicle hits something. They
aren’t designed to inflate at all in rollover, rear,
side or low-speed frontal crashes. And, for
unrestrained occupants, reduced-force air bags
may provide less protection
in frontal crashes
than more forceful air bags have provided in the
past. Everyone in your vehicle should wear a
safety belt properly
0- whether or not there’s an
air bag for that person.
Air bags inflate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye.
If you’re too close to an inflating
air bag,
it could seriously injure you. This is true
even with reduced-force frontal air bags. Safety
belts help keep you in position before and during
a crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with
reduced-force air bags. The driver should
sit as
far back as possible while still maintaining
control of the vehicle.
1-24
ProCarManuals.com

1
l Children who are up against, or very close to, an
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. This
is true even though your vehicle
has reduced-force frontal air bags. Air bags plus lap-shoulder belts offer the best protection for
1 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.
To read how,
see the part of this manual called “Children” and
see the caution labels on the sunvisors and the
right front passenger’s safety belt.
~
AIR
BAG
There is an air bag
readiness light
on the
instrument panel,
which
shows AIR BAG.
The system checks the air bag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an electrical
problem. See “Air Bag Readiness Light”
in the Index
for more information.
1-25
ProCarManuals.com

How the Air Bag System Works
Where are the air bags?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the steering wheel. The right front passenger’s air
bag
is in the instrument
panel
on the passenger’s side.
1-26
ProCarManuals.com

p, CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an air
bag, the bag might not inflate properly or it
might force the object into that person. The path
of an inflating air bag must be kept clear. Don’t
put anything between an occupant and an air
bag, and don’t attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any other air
bag covering.
When should an air bag inflate?
An air bag is designed to inflate in a moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crash. The air bag will inflate
only if the impact speed
is above the system’s designed
“threshold level.” If your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that doesn’t move or deform,
the threshold level is
about
9 to 16 mph (14 to 26 km/h). The threshold level
can vary, however, with specific vehicle design,
so that
it can be somewhat above or below this range. If your
vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such as
a parked car, the threshold
level will be higher. The
air bag
is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side
impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
In any particular crash,
no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and
how quickly the vehicle slows down
in frontal or
near-frontal impacts.
The air bag system is designed to work properly under a
wide range
of conditions, including off-road usage.
Observe safe driving speeds, especially
on rough terrain.
As always, wear your safety belt. See ”Off-Road
Driving’‘
in the Index for more tips on off-road driving.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects
that the vehide is in a crash. The sensing
system triggers a release
of gas from the inflator, which
inflates
the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related
hardware are all part
of the air bag modules inside the
steering wheel and in the instrument panel
in front of the
right front passenger.
1-27
ProCarManuals.com

How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contxt the steering wheel or the
instrument panel.
Air bags supplement the protection
provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute the force of
the impact more evenly over the occupant’s upper body,
stopping the occupant more gradually. But air bags would
not help you in many types of collisions, including
rollovers, rear impacts and side impacts, primarily because
an occupant’s motion is not toward those air bags. Air
bags should
never be regarded as anything more than a
supplement to safety belts, and then only
in moderate to
severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.
What will you see after an air bag inflates?
After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates, so quickly
that some people may not even realize the air bag
inflated. Some components of the air bag module
-- the
steering wheel hub for the driver’s air bag, or
the
instrument panel for the right front passenger’s
bag
-- will be hot for a short time. The parts of the bag
that come into contact with
you may be warm, but not
too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust
coming from vents
in the deflated air bags. Air bag
inflation doesn’t prevent the driver from seeing or from
being able to steer
the vehicle, nor does it stop people
from leaving the vehicle.
When an air bag inflates, there is dust in the air.
This dust could cause breathing problems for
people with a history of asthma or other
breathing trouble,
To avoid this, everyone in the
vehicle should get out as soon as it
is safe to do so.
If you have breathing problems but can’t get out
of the vehicle after an air bag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening
a window or door.
In many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right front passenger air bag.
Air bags are designed to inflate only once. After they
inflate,
you’ll need some new parts for your air bag
system.
If you don’t get them, the air bag system
won’t be there to help protect you
in another crash.
A new system will include air bag modules and
possibly other parts. The service manual for your
vehicle covers the need to replace other parts.
ProCarManuals.com