belt Oldsmobile Aurora 1998 s User Guide

YUII up on tne latcn plate to maKe sure It 1s secure. IT
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.
The lap part of the belt should be worn low and snug on
the hips, just touching the thighs. In a crash, this applies force
to the strong pelvic bones. And you’d be
less
likely to slide under the lap belt. If you slid under it,
the belt would apply force at your abdomen. This
could cause serious or even fatal injuries. The shoulder
belt should go over the shoulder and across the chest.
These parts
of the body are best able to take belt
restraining forces.
The safety belt locks if there’s a sudden stop
or crash.
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.
I. Sit well back in the sear.
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. 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.
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Q.’ What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
‘ CAUTION:
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.
I
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Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
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
I injuries. Always buckle your belt into the
1 buckle nearest you.

@’ What’s wrong with this?
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.
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be
worn over the shoulder at all times.
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12.' 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 retailer to
fix it.
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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 Passeng . 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.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS) or air bag system.
Your vehicle has “Next Generation” reduced-force
frontal air bags
-- one air bag for the driver and another
air bag for the right front passenger.
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. Here
are the most important things to know about the air
bag system:
I
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.
i
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- -
A CAU LON:.
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
yon. 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.
A CAUTT3N:
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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 adults, but not for young children and infants.
CAUTION: (Continued) 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.
There
is an air bag
readiness light on the
instrument panel, which
AIR BAG 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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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 8 to 11 mph (13 to 18 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.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle
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.
How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact 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.
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