belt OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE 1994 User Guide

Seats & Restraint Systems
26
I Illlllllllll
Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body. 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.
Supplemental Restraint
System
(SRS)
This section explains the driver’s
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS),
commonly referred to as an air bag.
Here are the most important things
to
know:
ProCarManuals.com

Seats & Restraint Systems
28
How The Air Bag System Works
Where is the air bag?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of
the steering wheel.
When is an air bag expected to
inflate?
The air bag is designed to inflate in
moderate to severe frontal or near-
frontal crashes. The air bag will only
inflate
if the velocity of the impact is
above the designed threshold level.
When impacting straight into a wall that
does not move or deform, the threshold
level for most
GM vehicles is between 9
and 15 mph (14 and 23 ltm/h).
However, this velocity threshold
depends on the vehicle design and may
be several miles-per-hour faster or slower.
In addition, this threshold
velocity will be considerably higher
if
the vehicle strikes an object such as a
parked car which will move and deform
on impact. The air bag is also not
designed to inflate in rollovers, side
impacts, or rear impacts where the
inflation would provide no occupant
protection benefit.
In any particular crash, the
determination of whether the air bag
should have inflated cannot be based
solely on the level of damage on the
vehicle(s)
. Inflation is determined by
the angle
of the impact and the vehicle’s
deceleration, of which vehicle damage is
only one indication. Repair cost is not a
good indicator of whether an air bag
should have deployed.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In a frontal impact of sufficient severity,
the air bag sensing system detects that
the vehicle is suddenly stopping as a
result of a crash. The sensing system
triggers a chemical reaction of the
sodium azide sealed in the inflator. The
reaction produces nitrogen gas, which inflates the cloth bag. The inflator, cloth
bag, and related hardware are all part of the
air bag inflator module packed
inside the steering wheel.
How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-
frontal collisions, even belted occupants
can contact the steering wheel. The air
bag supplements 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 provide
protection in many types of collisions,
including rollovers and rear and side
impacts, primarily because an
occupant’s motion is not toward the air
bag. Air bags should never be regarded
as anything more than a supplement to
safety belt protection in moderate to
severe frontal and near-frontal
collisions.
What will you see after an air bag
inflation?
After the air bag has inflated, it will
then quickly deflate. This occurs
so
quicldy that some people may not even
realize that the air bag inflated. Some
components of the air bag module in
ProCarManuals.com

the steering wheel hub may be hot for a
short time, but the portion of the bag
that comes into contact with you will
not be hot to the touch. There will be
small amounts of smoke and dust
coming from vents in the deflated air
bag. The air bag will
not impede the
driver’s vision or ability to steer the
vehicle, nor will it hinder the occupants
from exiting the vehicle.
The air bag is designed to inflate only
once. After
it inflates, 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 the air bag module
and possibly other parts. The service
manual has information about the
i need to replace other parts.
Your vehicle is equipped with a
diagnostic module, which records information about the air bag system
if the air bag deploys during a crash.
The module records information
about the readiness of the system,
which sensors activated the
deployment, and whether the driver’s
safety belt was in use.
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 dealer
for service.
NOTICE:
If you damage the cover for the
driver’s air bag, it may not work
properly. You may have to replace
the air bag on the steering wheel.
Do not open or break the air bag
cover.
Is the smoke from an air bag inflation
harmful?
The particles emitted during air bag
inflation are not harmful to most people.
Some people with respiratory ailments
may experience difficulty breathing
if
they stay in the vehicle with the
windows closed after air bag inflation.
So, if your air bag inflates, you and any
passengers should exit the vehicle if and
when it is safe to do
so. If you or your
passengers can’t get out of the vehicle,
try to get fresh air by opening a window,
turning on the fan, or opening a door.
Servicing Your Oldsmobile with
the Air Bag System
The air bag affects how your Oldsmobile
should be serviced. There are parts of
the air bag system in several places
around your vehicle.
You don’t want the
system to inflate while someone is working
on your vehicle. Your Oldsmobile
dealer and the
1994 Silhouette Service
Manual have information about
servicing your vehicle and the air bag
system. The air bag system does not
need regular maintenance.
29
ProCarManuals.com

Seats & Restraint Systems
30
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
throughout the pregnancy.
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 malting safety belts effective is
wearing them properly.
I 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 part.
I Rear Seat Passengers
It‘s very important for rear seat
passengers to buckle up! Accident
statistics show that unbelted people
in
the rear seat are hurt more often in
crashes than those who are wearing
safety belts.
Rear passengers who aren’t safety
belted can be thrown out of the vehicle
in a crash. And they can strike others in
the vehicle who are wearing safety belts.
LJ
Center Passenger Position
Lap Belt
Someone can sit in the center position
mket seat.
When
you sit in the center position
mcltet seat‘ you have a lap safety belt
which has a retractor.
ProCarManuals.com

1. Pick up the latch plate and, in a
single motion, pull the belt across
you. Don’t let it get twisted.
2. Push the latch plate into the buckle
until it clicks.
If the belt stops before
it reaches the buckle,
let it go back all
the way and start again. Pull up on
the latch plate to make sure it is
secure.
tighten it.
3. Feed the lap belt into the retractor to
4. Position and release it the same way
as the lap part of a lap-shoulder belt.
If the belt isn’t long enough, see
Safety BeZt 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 quicltly if you ever had to. ’he
center position bucket seat is
a
:ENTER OR LEFT type seat. Because
t is the only bucket seat with a lap belt,
Lnd has a buckle on only one side, there
re certain places a
CENTER OR LEFT
ipe bucket seat should, and should not,
e used. See
Seats in the Index. If the
:ENTER OR LEFT bucket seat is used
n the left side
of the vehicle, the person
itting there should use the lap-shoulder
elt. It works the same way as the
river’s safety belt. See
Driver Position
I the Index.
31
ProCarManuals.com

Seats & Restraint Systems
32
Sear Seat Outside Passenger
Dositions
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The positions next to the windows have
ap-shoulder belts. Here’s how
to wear
me properly.
1. Pick up the latch plate and pull the
belt across you. Don’t let it get
twisted.
until
it clicks.
2. Push the latch plate into the buckle If
the belt stops before it reaches the
buckle, tilt the latch plate and keep
pulling until you can buclde 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.
ProCarManuals.com

3. To make the lap part tight, pull down
on the buckle end of the belt as you
pull up on the shoulder part. 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 bc
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 tale
belt restraining forces.
The safety belt locks
if there’s a sudden
stop or a crash.
33
ProCarManuals.com

A
I Built-In Child Restraint
(OPT/ON)
If you have a rear bucket seat with the
optional built-in child restraint, see the
Owner’s Manual Supplement that came
with your vehicle for information on use
and appearance care. To find out where
a seat that has the built-in child
restraint must be located in your
vehicle? see
Removable Rear Bucket
Seats
in the Index.
I Child Restraints
Be sure to follow the instructions for the
restraint.
You may find these
instructions on the restraint itself or in a
booltlet, 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.
35
ProCarManuals.com

Seats & Restraint Systems
36
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 unless the child
is an infant
and you’re the only adult in the vehicle.
In that case, you might want to secure
the restraint in the front seat where you
can keep an eye on the baby.
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.
Top Strap
If your child restraint has a top strap, it
should be anchored. Anchor
brackets for the second row
outside positions are located just above
the place where the third row lap-
shoulder belts meet the floor. There’s a
vinyl sleeve there; to get to the bracket,
push this vinyl sleeve aside slightly.
Anchor the top strap to the bracket.
If you need to have an anchor bracket
installed for any additional passenger seat position, you can ask your
Oldsmobile dealer to put it in for you. If
you want to install an anchor bracket
yourself, your dealer can tell you
how to
do it.
Once you have the top strap anchored,
you’ll be ready to secure the child
restraint itself.
ProCarManuals.com

Securing a Child Restraint in an
Outside Position
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt.
See the earlier section about the top
strap
if the child restraint has one.
1. Put the restraint on the seat. Follow
the instructions for the child
restraint.
2. Secure the child in the child restraint
as the instructions say.
3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the
lap and shoulder portions of the
vehicle’s safety belt through or
around the restraint. The child
restraint instructions will show you
how. Tilt the latch plate to adjust the
belt
if needed. If the shoulder belt
goes in front of the child’s face or
neck, put it behind the child restraint
4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the
release button is positioned
so you
would be able to unbuckle the safety
belt quickly
if you ever had to.
5. To tighten the belt, pull up on the
shoulder belt while you push down
on the child restraint.
6. Push and pull the child restraint in
different 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.
37
ProCarManuals.com