child restraint OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE 1998 Owners Manual

Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
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.
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1-46 Seats and Seat Controls
Rear Seats
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
Here Are Questions Many People Ask About
Safety Belts
-- and the Answers
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Driver Position
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Right Front Passenger Position
Supplemental Restraint Systems (SRS)
Rear Seat Passengers
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1-90 Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children
and Small Adults
Center Passenger Position (Bench Seat)
Center Passenger Position (Bucket Seat)
Children Built-in Child Restraint (Option)
Child Restraints
Larger Children
Safety Belt Extender
Checking Your Restraint Systems
Replacing Restraint System Parts After a Crash
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Split Bench Seats
If you have the split bench seat (50/50 or 40/60>, the
seatbacks can be folded down individually and the
sections can be removed individually. The sections can
also be adjusted forward or rearward individually.
The second row
(40/60) split bench may be equipped
with built-in child restraint(s). See “Built-In Child
Restraint” in the index.
Folding or Reclining the Seatbacks
To fold down the seatback on either section of the split
bench seat, pull the nylon strap
on the back of the seat or
lift up on the lever on the front
of the seatback.
To raise either seatback,
pull the nylon strap
on the
back
of the seat while
raising the seatback until
it
locks upright. Push and pull
on the seatback to check
that it is locked upright.
/ 0
0 7 ....... ...... ......... ........ ........... .......... .......... :-. ....... ”~ i -
Use the lever on the front of the seatback to raise or
lower the seatback to the desired position.
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Bucket Seats
There are three types of rear bucket seats: RIGHT
ONLY, CENTER
OR LEFT and LEFT ONLY.
RIGHT ONLY and LEFT ONLY seats may be equipped
with the built-in child restraint option.
The
rear bucket seats can be removed to provide extra
storage. Each seat that has the built-in child restraint
option
fits in only one location in your vehicle, but seats
that don't have the built-in child restraint option can be
moved to different rows.
Folding or Reclining the Seatbacks
To fold down the seatback on either section of the split
bench seat, pull the nylon strap on the back of the seat or
lift up on the lever on the front
of the seatback.
To raise either seatback,
pull the nylon strap on the
back of the seat while
raising the seatback until it
locks upright. Push and pull
on the seatback to check
that
it is locked upright. Use
the lever
on the front of the seatback to raise or
lower the seatback to the desired position.
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Replacing the Bucket Seats
Don’t put the seats in so they face rearward because they
won’t latch that way. If you want more storage room
behind the seat, adjust the seat by sliding it forward.
The bucket seats have seat position labels, located on the
back
of the seat, showing where the seat must go. Follow
that diagram. See “Seat Controls” in the beginning of
this
section for more details. The seat must be placed in the
proper location for the legs
to attach correctly.
RIGHT
ONLY seats that don’t have the built-in child
restraint option fit only in the right location of either
row, the
E and F or I and J sets of floor cups.
The CENTER
OR LEFT seat fits in the center location
or in either left location, the
A and B, C and D or G
and H sets of floor cups.
The
LEFT ONLY seats that don’t have the built-in child
restraint option fit only in the left location of either row,
the
A and B or G and H sets of floor cups.
RIGHT ONLY seats that have the built-in child restraint
option fit only
in the right location of the second row,
the
E and F sets of floor cups.
LEFT ONLY seats that have the built-in child restraint
option fit only
in the left location of the second row, the
A and B sets of floor cups.
Make sure the seat is in the full rear position before
beginning this procedure.
1. With the seat folded, squeeze the angled gray bar
toward the solid gray crossbar while placing the
front hooks of the bench seat
onto the front two
floor pins.
To do this,
the seat will
need to be angled
so that
the front hooks clear the
floor pins.
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Q: If I’m a good driver, and I never drive far from
A: You may be an excellent driver, but if you’re in an
home, why should I wear safety belts?
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 kdh).
Safety belts
are for everyone.
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
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
vehicle, 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 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
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 shoulder 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 Systems (SRS)
This part explains the frontal and side impact
Supplemental Restraint Systems (SRS) or
air bag systems.
Your vehicle has four air bags
-- a “Next Generation”
reduced-force frontal air bag for the driver, another
“Next Generation” reduced-force frontal frontal air bag
for the right front passenger, a side impact air bag for
the driver, and another side impact 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
frontal 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 imponant things to know about the air
bag systems:
A “I C’ u T1C”T:
rn
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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
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I
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.
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
shows a deployed 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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To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
Your vehicle may have rear shoulder belt comfort guides.
This feature 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.
If your vehicle has bucket seats in the second row, there
is one guide for each outside passenger position. If your
vehicle has a bench seat in the second row, there is one
guide for the left-hand outside passenger position. If
your vehicle has third-row seats, there is one guide for
each outside passenger position.
To provide added safety
belt comfort for children who have outgrown child
restraints 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:
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Smaller Children and Babies
c A CAUTION
TO HELP AVOID PERSONAL
SEAT IN LOCATION SHOWN
INJURY, SECURELY LATCH
SEE OWNER’S MANUAL
MORE INFORMATION. ONLY _. Seat Location printed in: 10279595
The center position bucket seat is a CENTER OR LEFT
type seat. Because it is the only bucket seat with a lap
belt, and has a buckle on only one side, there are certain
places a CENTER
OR LEFT type bucket seat should,
and should
not, be used. See “Seats” in the Index. If the
CENTER OR LEFT bucket seat
is used on the left side
of the vehicle, the person sitting there should use the
lap-shoulder belt.
See “Rear Seat Outside Passenger
Positions” in the Index.
Children
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.
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.
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
infants and all children smaller than adult size. 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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Smaller children and babies should always be
restrained in a child or infant restraint. The
instructions
for the restraint will say whether it is
the right type and size for your child. A very
young child’s hip bones are
so small that a
regular belt might not stay low on the hips, as it
should. Instead, the belt will likely be over the
child’s abdomen. In a crash, the belt would apply
force right on the child’s abdomen, which could
cause serious or
fatal injuries. So, be sure that
any child small enough for one is always properly
restrained in a child or infant restraint.
Infants need complete support, including support
for the head and neck. This is necessary because an
infant’s neck is weak and its head weighs
so much
compared with the rest of its body. In a crash, an infant
in a rear-facing restraint settles into the restraint,
so the
crash forces can be distributed across the strongest part
of the infant’s body, the back and shoulders. A baby
should be secured in an appropriate infant restraint.
This is
so important that many hospitals today won’t
release a newborn infant to its parents unless there is an
infant restraint available for the baby’s first trip in a
motor vehicle.
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