Oldsmobile Aurora 1997 s Owner's Guide

Shoulder Belt Tightness Adjustment
Your car has a shoulder belt tightness adjustment
feature. If the shoulder belt seems too tight, adjust it
before you begin to drive.
1. Sit well back in the seat.
2. Start pulling the shoulder belt out.
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3. Just before it reaches the end, give it a quick pull.
4. Let the belt go back all the way. You should hear a
slight clicking sound. If you don't, the adjustment
feature won't set, and you'll have to start again.
5.
I . . ..
Now you can add a small amount of slack. Lean
forward slightly, then sit back.
If you've added more
than
1 inch (25 mm) of slack, pull the shoulder belt
out as you did before and start again.
If you move around in the vehicle enough, or if you pull
out the shoulder belt, the belt will become tight again. If
this happens, you can reset it.

e.' What's wrong with this?
You can be seriously hurt if your shoulder belt is
too loose. In a crash, you would move forward
too much, which could increase injury. The
shoulder belt should
fit against your body. Don't
allow more than
1 inch (25 mm) of slack.
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won't give nearly
as much protection this way.
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Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
A CAUTLN:
You can be seriously injured if your belt is
buckled in the wrong place like this. In
a crash,
the belt would go up over your abdomen. The
belt forces would be there, not
at the pelvic
bones. This could cause serious internal injuries.
Always buckle your belt into the buckle
nearest you.

What's wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times.
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.
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@ What’s wrong with this?
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 retailer to
fix it.
A: The belt is twisted across the body.

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To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
The belt should
go back out of the way.
Before you close the door, be sure the belt
is out of the
way. If
you slam the door on it, you can damage both the
belt and your vehicle.
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.
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.
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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
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same
way as the driver’s safety belt. See “Driver Position,’’
earlier
in this section.
When the lap portion of the belt is pulled out all the
way, it will lock.
If it does, let it go back all the way and
start again.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS) or air bag system.
Your Aurora has
two air bags -- one air bag for the
driver and another air bag for the right front passenger. Here are
the most important things to know about the air
bag system:
r
F-
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 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. Everyone in your vehicle should wear
a
safety belt properly -- whether or not there’s an
air bag for that person.
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A CAUTION:
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. Safety belts
help keep you in position before and during
a
crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with air
bags. The driver should sit as
far back as possible
while still maintaining control of the vehicle.
A CAUTION:
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An inflating air bag can seriously injure small
children. Always secure children properly in your
vehicle.
To read how, see the part of this manual
called “Children” and the caution label on 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.
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How the Air Bag System Works
Where are the air bags?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
I
The right front passenger’s air bag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.
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If something is between an occupant and an air
bag, the bag may 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 8 to 11 mph (13 to 18 kmh). 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.
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