OLDSMOBILE AURORA 2003 Owner's Guide

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 a crash,
or
if you pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor.
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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.
To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
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Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and
Small Adults
Your vehicle may have this feature already. If it doesn’t,
you can get it from any
GM dealer.
Rear shoulder belt comfort guides provide added safety
belt comfort for older children who have outgrown
booster seats and for small adults. When installed
on a
shoulder belt, the comfort guide better positions the
belt away from the neck and head.
There
is one guide available for each outside passenger
position in the rear seat. To provide added safety belt
comfort for children who have outgrown child restraints
and booster seats 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 pocket 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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Safety Belt Extender
If the vehicle’s safety belt will fasten around you, you
should use it.
But
if a safety belt isn’t long enough to fasten, your
dealer will order
you an extender. It’s free. When you go
in to order it, take the heaviest coat you will wear,
so
the extender will be long enough for you. The extender
will be just for you, and just for the seat in your
vehicle that you choose. Don’t let someone else use it,
and use it only for the seat it is made
to fit. To wear
it, just attach it to the regular safety belt.
4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described in
Rear Seat Passengers on page 1-27.
Make sure that the shoulder belt crosses the
JI IUUIUGI . -h~, ,IA-W
To remove and store the comfort guides, squeeze the
belt edges together
so that you can take them out of the
guides. Slide the guide into its storage pocket on the
side of the seatback.
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Child Restraints
Older Children
Older children who have outgrown booster seats should
wear the vehicle’s safety belts.
Q: What is the proper way to wear safety belts?
A: If possible, an older child should wear a
lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a
shoulder belt can provide. The shoulder belt
should not cross the face or neck. The lap belt
should fit snugly below the hips, just touching the
top
of the thighs. It should never be worn over
the abdomen, which could cause severe or even
fatal internal injuries in a crash.
Accident statistics show that children are safer
if they
are restrained in the rear seat.
In a crash, children who are not buckled up can strike
other people who are buckled up, or can be thrown
out of the vehicle. Older children need to use safety
belts properly.
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Never do this.
Here two children are wearing the same belt.
The belt can’t properly spread the impact
forces. In a crash, the two children can be
crushed together and seriously injured.
A belt
must be used by only one person at a time.
Q: What if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt,
but the child
is so small that the shoulder belt
is very close to the child’s face or neck?
A: If the child is sitting in a seat next to a window,
move the child toward the center
of the vehicle.
If the child
is sitting in the center rear seat
passenger position, move the child toward the
safety belt buckle. In either case, be sure that the
shoulder belt still is on the child’s shoulder,
so
that in a crash the child’s upper body would have
the restraint that belts provide.
If the child is
sitting in a rear seat outside position, see
Rear
Safety Beit Comfort Guides for Chiidren and Smaii
Adults on page 1-25.
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I
Never do this.
Here a child is sitting in a seat that has a
lap-shoulder belt, but the shoulder part is
behind the child. If
the child wears the belt in
this way, in a crash the child might slide under
the belt. The belt’s force would then be applied right on the child’s abdomen. That could cause
serious or fatal injuries.
Wherever the child sits, the lap portion of the belt
should be worn
low and snug on the hips, just touching
the child’s thighs. This applies belt force to the child’s
pelvic bones
in a crash.
Infants and Young Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! This includes
infants and all other children. 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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Every time infants and young children ride in vehicles,
they should have the protection provided by appropriate
restraints. Young children should not use the vehicle’s
adult safety belts alone, unless there
is no other choice.
Instead, they need to use a child restraint. People should never hold a baby in their arms
while riding in a vehicle.
A baby doesn’t weigh
much
-- until a crash. During a crash a baby
will become
so heavy it is not possible to hold
it. For example, in a crash at only 25 mph
(40 km/h), a 12-lb.
(5.5 kg) baby will suddenly
become a 240-lb.
(1 10 kg) force on a person’s
arms.
A baby should be secured in an
appropriate restraint.
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Children who are up against, or very close to,
any air bag when
it inflates can be seriously
injured
or killed. Air bags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer outstanding protection for adults
and older children, 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.
Q: What are the different types of add-on child
restraints?
A: Add-on child restraints, which are purchased by the
vehicle’s owner, are available in four basic types.
Selection
of a particular restraint should take
into consideration not only the child’s weight, height
and age but also whether or not the restraint will
be compatible with the motor vehicle in which it will
be used.
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For most basic types of child restraints, there are
many different models available. When purchasing a
child restraint, be sure it is designed to be used
in a motor vehicle.
If it is, the restraint will have a
label saying that it meets federal motor vehicle
safety standards.
The restraint manufacturer’s instructions that come
with the restraint state the weight and height
limitations for a particular child restraint. In addition,
there are many kinds of restraints available for
child
1 with special needs.
Newborn infants need complete support,
including support for the head and neck. This
is necessary because a newborn infant’s neck
is weak and its head weighs
so much
c~mparpd with the rest nf its body. In a crash?
an infant in a rear-facing seat settles into the
restraint,
so the crash forces can be
distributed across the strongest part of an
infant’s body, the back and shoulders. Infants
always should be secured in appropriate infant
restraints. The body structure of
a young child is quite
unlike that
of an adult or older child, for whom
the safety belts are designed.
A young child’s
hip bones are still
so small that the vehicle’s
regular safety belt may not remain low on the
hip bones, as
it should. Instead, it may settle
up around the child’s abdomen. In a crash, the
belt would apply force on a body area that’s unprotected by any bony structure. This alone
could cause serious or fatal injuries. Young children always should be secured
in
appropriate child restraints.
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