belt GMC SIERRA 1998 Owner's Guide

To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
If your vehicle has a rear seat, your vehicle may have
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 seat. 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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I
4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described in “Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions
(Extended Cab)” or “Rear Seat Outside Passenger
Positions (Crew Cab)” 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.
Make sure
you remove the comfort guide from the belt
before
you fold a rear seat down or use an easy-entry
seat, if your vehicle has one.
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.
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Smaller Children and Babies
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 though 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. 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
should. Instead, the belt will likely be over the
it
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. I
Smaller children and babies should always be
restrained in a child or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint will say whether it is
CAUTION: (Continued)
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A booster seat (F, G) is designed for children who
are about
40 to 60 Ibs. (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 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
Extended Cab and Crew Cab)
The child restraint must be secured properly in the
center or right front passenger seat.
If your vehicle has
air bags and you want
to secure a rear-facing child
restraint
in the right front passenger‘s seat, you need to
turn
off the passenger’s air bag. See “Securing a Child
Restraint
in the Right Front Seat Position” in the Index
for more on this, including important safety information
p, CAUTION:
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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
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Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position (Extended
Cab)
If you have a Crew Cab, see “Securing a Child Restraint in a
Rear Outside Seat Position (Crew Cab)” later in
this section.
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. Tilt the latch plate
to adjust the belt if needed. If the
shoulder belt goes in front
of the child’s face or neck,
put it behind the child restraint.
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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.
4. To tighten the belt., pull up on the shoulder belt 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.
Make sure the buckle end of the belt is pulled out all
the way.
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5. 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.
Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position (Crew Cab)
If you have an Extended Cab, see ”Securing a Child
Restraint
in a Rear Outside Seat Position (Extended
Cab)” earlier
in this section. 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.
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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.
4. Pull the rest of the lap belt all the way out of the
retractor to set the
lock.
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