belt Oldsmobile Cutlass 1998 s User Guide

Q: Mat’s wrong with this?
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.
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
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Q: 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 andneck injury.
Also, the belt would apply
too much force to the
ribs,
which aren't as strong as shoulder bomes.
You could also severely injure internal organs
like your liver or spleen.
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&.’ 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.

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.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
‘This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
1 (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:
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
-- even reduced-force 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. And, for unrestrained occupants,
CAUTION: (Continued)
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When
An air
should an air bag inflate?
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
9 to 14 mph (14 to 23 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 anythng more than a
supplement to safety belts, and then only
in moderate to
severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.
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What will you see after an air bag inflates?
After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates, so quickly that
some people may not even realize the
air bag inflated.
Some components of the
air bag module -- the steering
wheel hub for the driver’s
air bag, or the instrument panel
for the right front passenger’s bag
-- will be hot for a short
time. The parts of the bag that come into contact with you
may be wm, but not too hot to touch. There
will be
some smoke and dust coming from vents in the deflated
air bags. Air bag inflation doesn’t prevent the driver kom
seeing or from being able to steer the vehicle, nor does
it
stop people kom leaving the vehicle.
I
L
~ ~~ ~~
When an air bag inflates, there is dust in the air.
This dust could cause breathing problems for
people with a history of asthma
or other
breathing trouble.
To avoid this, everyone m the
vehicle should get out as
soon as it is safe to do so.
If you have breathing problems but can’t get out
of the vehicle after an air bag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening a window or door.
I
In many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right front passenger air bag.
0
0
0
Air bags are designed to inflate only once. After they
inflate, you’ll need some new parts for your air bag
system. If you don’t get them, the
air bag system
won’t be there to help protect you in another crash.
A new system will include air bag modules and
possibly other parts. The service manual for your
vehicle covers the need to replace other parts.
Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and
diagnostic module, which records information about
the
air bag system. The module records information
about the readiness of the system, when the sensors
are activated and driver’s
safety belt usage at
deployment.
Let only qualified technicians work
on your air bag
system. Improper service can mean that your air
bag system won’t work properly. See your retailer
for service.
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1
1. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let it get twisted,.
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The positions next to the windows have lap-shoulder
belts. Here’s how
to wear one properly.

If the belt stops before it reaches the buckle, tilt the
latch plate and keep pulling until you can buckle it.
Pull up on the latch plate
to make sure it is secure.
If the belt is not 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.
.. ,I ’. 8. I t
3. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end
of the belt as-you pull up on the shoulder part.
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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.
You can be sermusly 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 agamst your body.
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
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