child restraint OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS 1997 Owners Manual

Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
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1-2 1-4
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1-11
1-12 1-15
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.
Seats and Controls
1-47 Replacing Parts After a Crash
Shoulder
Belt Height Adjuster 1-47 Checking
Your Restraint Systems
How to Wear
Safety Belts Properly 1-47 How to Obtain a Safety Belt Extender
Safety Belts 1-37 Child Restraint
Top Straps
Questions Many People Ask About Children
in Child Restraints
Why Safety Belts Work 1-36
Important Information for Buckling
Rear Seats 1-34 How to Use Child Restraints
Reclining Front Seatbacks 1-30
Safety Belt Comfort Guides
Power
Seats 1-23 Questions and Answers About
Air Baps
Manual Seats 1-20
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
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Q: If I’m a good driver, and I never drive far from
home, why should
I wear safety belts?
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
A: You may be an excellent driver, but if you’re in an
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 km/h).
Safety belts are for everyone.
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.
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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.
ION:
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.
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
Rear shoulder belt comfort guides 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.
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Child Restraints
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.
Where to Put the Restraint
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat. We at
General Motors therefore recommend that you put your
child restraint in the rear seat.
Never put a rear-facing
child restraint in the front passenger seat. Here’s why:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured if the right front passenger’s air
bag inflates.
This is because the back of a
rear-facing child restraint would be
very close to
the inflating air bag. Always secure a rear-facing
child restraint in the rear seat.
You may, however, secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front seat. Before you secure
a forward-facing child restraint, always move the
front passenger seat as far back as it will go. Or,
secure the child restraint in the rear seat.
Wherever you install it, be sure to secure the child
restraint properly.
Keep in mind that an unsecured child restraint can move
around in a collision or sudden stop and injure people
in
the vehicle. Be sure to properly secure any child
restraint in your vehicle
-- even when no child is in it.
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Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside seat Position
, ,, .
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5. Buckle tkbelt. Make sure the release button is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly
if you everhad to.
6. To tighten the belt, pull its free end whileyou push
down on the
child restraint. ,
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Securing a ChiidRestraint in the Right
Front Seat Position You’ll be using the lap-shedder belt. See the eadier part
about the top strap if the child restraint has one.
1. Because your vehicle has a right front passenger air
bag, always move the seat
as far back as it will go
before securing a forward-facing child restraint. (See
“Seats” in the Index.)
2. ht the restraint on the seat. Follow the instructions
for the child restraint.
3. Secure the child in the child restraint as the
instructions say.
Your vehicle has
a right front passenger air bag. Never
put a rear-facing child restraint in this seat. Here’s why: 4. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder
portions
of the vehicle’s safety belt through or
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
~ seriously injured if the right front passenger’s air
i bag inflates. This is because the back of a
rearfacing child restraint would be very close to
the inflating air bag. Always secure a rear-facing
child restraint in the rear seat.
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around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show you how.
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6. To tighten the belt, pull up on the shoulder belt while
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
you push down on the child restraint.
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.
Larger Children
Children who have outgrown child restraints should
wear the vehicle’s safety belts.
If you have the choice, a child should sit next to a
window so the child can wear a lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a shoulder belt can provide.
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Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained
in the rear seat. But they need to use the
safety belts properly.
0 Children who aren’t buckled up can be thrown out in
Children who aren’t buckled up can strike other
a crash.
people who
are.
A
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.
@ 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: Move the child toward the center of the vehicle, but
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 Belt Comfort Guides” in the Index. If
the child is so small that the shoulder belt is still
very close to
the child’s face or neck, you might
want to place the child in the center seat position,
the one that has only a lap belt.
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A CAUTION:
Things you put inside your vehicle can strike
and injure people in
a sudden stop or turn, or
in a crash.
0 Put things in the trunk of your vehicle. In a
trunk, put them as
far forward as you can.
Try to spread the weight evenly.
inside the vehicle
so that some of them are
above the tops of the seats.
0 Don’t leave an unsecured child restraint in
your vehicle.
0 When you carry something inside the
vehicle, secure
it whenever you can.
Don’t leave a seat folded down unless you
need to.
0 Never stack heavier things, like suitcases,
Towing a Trailer
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~ ~ ~~~~ ~~~
If you don’t use the correct equipment and drive
properly, you can lose control when you pull
a
trailer. For example, if the trailer is too heavy, the
brakes may not work well
-- or even at all. You
and your passengers could be seriously injured.
Pull
a trailer only if you have followed all the
steps in this section. Ask your Oldsmobile retailer
for advice and information about towing a trailer
with your vehicle.
NOTICE:
Pulling a trailer improperly can damage your
vehicle and result in costly repairs not covered
by
your warranty. To pull a trailer correctly, follow
the advice in this part, and see your Oldsmobile
retailer
for important information about towing
a trailer with your vehicle.
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