belt Oldsmobile Achieva 1997 Owner's Manuals

The 1997 Oldsrnobile Achieva Owner’s Manual
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Seats and Restraint Systems
This section tells you how to use your seats and safety belts properly. It also explains the “SRS” system.
Features and Controls
This section explains how to start and operate your Oldsmobile.
Comfort Controls and Audio Systems
This section tells you how to adjust the ventilation and comfort controls and how to operate your audio system.
Your Driving and the Road
Here you’ll find helpful information and tips about the road and how to drive under different condition\
s.
Problems on the Road
This section tells what to do if you have a problem while driving, such as a flat tire or overheated engine, etc.
Service and Appearance Care
Here the manual tells you how to keep your Oldsmobile running properly and looking good.
Maintenance Schedule
This section tells you when to perform vehicle maintenance and what fluids and lubricants to use.
Customer Assistance Information
This section tells you how to contact Oldsmobile for assistance and how to get service and owner publications.
It also gives you information on “Reporting Safety Defects’’ on page 8-8.
Index
Here’s an alphabetical listing of almost every subject in this manual. You can use it to quickly find
something you want to read.
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Vehicle Symbols
These
are some of the symbols you may find on your vehicle.
For example,
these symbols
are used
on an
original battery:
POSSIBLE A
CAUTION
INJURY
PROTECT EYES BY
SHIELDING
CAUSTIC
BURNS AVOID
SPARKS
OR
FLAMES
SPARK
OR ,\I/,
COULD FLAME
EXPLODE BATTERY
These symbols are important
for you and
your passengers
whenever your
vehicle
is
driven:
DOOR LOCK
UNLOCK
4
BELTS
n
POWER
WINDOW 'tl
These symbols have
to do wilh
your lamps:
SIGNALS e e
TURN
RUNNING
.'****o
DAYTIME LAMPS
'**
FOG LAMPS $0
These symbols
are
on some of
your controls:
WINDSHIELD
WIPER
WINDSHIELD DEFROSTER
WINDOW
DEFOGGER
VENTILATING FAN
These symbols
are used on
warning and
indicator
lights:
COOLANT -
TEMP -
CHARGING I-1
BAlTERY
SYSTEM
BRAKE
(@)
ENGINE OIL w,
PRESSURE
ANTI-LOCK
(@)
BRAKES
Here are some other symbols
you may see:
FUSE -%-
LIGHTER n
HORN )tr
SPEAKER
b
FUEL e3

Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Here you’ll find information about the seats in your Oldsmobile and how to use your safety belts properly. You can
also learn about
some things you should not do with air bags and safety belts.
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1-21 Seats
and Seat Controls
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
Here Are Questions Many People
Ask About
Safety Belts
-- and the Answers
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Driver Position
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Right Front Passenger Position
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) 1-27
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1-47 Rear
Seat Passengers
Center Passenger Position
Children
Child Restraints
Larger Children
Safety Belt Extender
Checking Your Restraint Systems
Replacing Restraint System Parts After
a Crash
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But don’t have a seatback reclined if your vehicle is moving.
A CAUTION:
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Sitting in a reclined position when your vehicle is
in motion can be dangerous. Even
if you buckle
up, your safety belts can’t
do their job when
you’re reclined like this.
The shoulder belt can’t do its job because it
won’t be against your body. Instead, it will be in
front of you.
In a crash you could go into it,
receiving neck or other injuries.
The lap belt can’t do its job either. In
a crash the
belt could go up over your abdomen. The belt
forces would be there, not at your pelvic bones.
This could cause serious internal injuries.
For proper protection when the vehicle is
in
motion, have the seatback upright. Then sit well
back in the seat and wear your safety belt properly.
Head Restraints
Slide the head restraint up or down so that the top of the
restraint
is closest to the top of your ears. This position
reduces the chance of a neck injury in a crash.
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Rear Seats
Folding the Rear Seat (If Equipped)
To fold down the rear seat, pull forward
on the seat tab.
Push the seatback up to return it to its original position.
To make sure the seatback is secure, push it into a
Mly
upright position. A loose seatback can cause an injury in
a sudden stop.
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
This part of the manual tells you how to use safety belts
properly.
It also tells you some things you should not do
with safety belts.
And it explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS),
or air bag system.
Don’t let anyone ride where he
or she can’t wear
a safety belt properly. If you are in a crash and
you’re not wearing
a safety belt, your injuries
can be much worse.
You can hit things inside the
vehicle or be ejected from
it. You can be seriously
injured or killed. In the same crash, you might
not be if you
are buckled up. Always fasten your
safety belt, and check that your passengers’ belts
are fastened properly too.
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It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area,
inside or outside of
a vehicle. In a collision,
people riding in these areas are more likely to be
seriously injured or killed.
Do not allow people to
ride in any area
of your vehicle that is not
equipped with seats and safety belts. Be sure
everyone in your vehicle is in
a seat and using a
safety belt properly.
I Your vehicle has a light that
comes on as a reminder to
buckle up. (See “Safety
Belt Reminder Light”
in the Index.)
In most states and Canadian provinces, the law says to
wear safety belts. Here’s why: They work.
You never know if you’ll be in a crash. If you do have a
crash, you don’t know if it will be a bad one.
A few crashes are mild, and some crashes can be
so
serious that even buckled up a person wouldn’t survive.
But most crashes are
in between. In many of them,
people who buckle up can survive and sometimes walk
away. Without belts they could have been badly hurt
or killed.
After more than
25 years of safety belts in vehicles,
the facts are clear. In most crashes buckling up does
matter
... a lot!

Why Safety Belts Work
When you ride in or on anything, you go as fast as it goes.
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Take the simplest vehicle. Suppose it's just a seat on wheels.
Put someone on it.
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or the instrument panel ... or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the vehicle does.
You get more time to stop. You stop over more distance,
and your strongest bones take the forces. That’s why
safety belts make such
good sense.
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Here Are Questions Many People Ask
About Safety Belts
-- and the Answers
Q: Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if I’m wearing
a safety belt?
A: You could be -- whether you’re wearing a safety
belt or not. But you can unbuckle a safety belt,
even if you’re upside down. And your chance of
being conscious during and after an accident,
so
you can unbuckle and get out, is much greater if
you are belted.
If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have to
wear safety belts?
A: Air bags are in many vehicles today and will be in
most of them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems only;
so they work with
safety belts -- not instead of them. Every air bag
system ever offered for sale has required the use
of
safety belts. Even if you’re in a vehicle that has air
bags,
you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That’s true not only in frontal collisions,
but especially in side and other collisions.
@ If I’m a good driver, and I never drive far from
A: You may be an excellent driver, but if you’re in an
home, why should I wear safety belts?
accident -- even one that isn’t your fault -- you and
your passengers can be hurt. Being a good driver
doesn’t protect you from things beyond your
control, such as bad drivers.
Most accidents occur within
25 miles (40 km) of
home. And the greatest number
of serious injuries
and deaths occur at speeds of less than
40 mph
(65 hh).
Safety belts are for everyone.

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 Oldsmobile, 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.
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
Don’t let
it get twisted.
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