OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE 2003 Workshop Manual

4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described in
Rear Seat Passengers on page 1-39.
Make sure that the shoulder belt crosses the
shoulder.
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 the storage pocket.
Safety Belt Pretensioners
Your vehicle has safety belt pretensioners. You’ll find
them on the buckle end of the safety belts for the driver
and right front passenger. They help the safety belts
reduce a person’s forward movement in a moderate to
severe crash in which the front of the vehicle hits
something.
Pretensioners work only once.
If they activate in a
crash, you’ll need to get new ones, and probably other
new parts for your safety belt system. See
Replacing
Restraint System Parts After a Crash on page
1-77.
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.
1-44

Child Restraints
Older Children
Older children who have outgrown booster seats 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.
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.
1 -45

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: 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 for Children
and Small Adults on page
1-42. 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 a seat that has a lap belt,
if your vehicle
has one.
1 -46

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.
1 -47

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.
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.
I
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.
CAUTION: (Continu??)
1-4%

For example, in a crast t 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. 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.
1 -49

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.
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
children 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
compared with the rest
of 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.
1-50

Child Restraint Systems
The body structure of a young child is ,,ite
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.
An infant car bed (A), a special bed made for use in a
to restrain or position a child on a contmuous flat
surface. Make sure that the infant’s head rests toward
the center of the vehicle.
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1-51

A rear-facing infant seat (B) provides restraint with
the seating surface against the back of the infant.
The harness system holds the infant
in place and,
in a crash, acts to keep the infant positioned in
the restraint.
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A forward-facing child seat (C-E) provides restraint for
the child’s body with the harness and also sometimes
with surfaces such as T-shaped or shelf-like shields.
1 -52

A booster seat (F-G) is a child restraint designed to
improve the fit of the vehicle's safety belt system.
Some booster seats have a shoulder belt positioner,
harness.
A booster seat can also help a child to see out
the window.
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Q: How do child restraints work?
A: A child restraint system is any device designed for
use in a motor vehicle to restrain, seat, or position
children. A built-in child restraint system is a
permanent part of the motor vehicle. An add-on
child restraint system is a portable one, which
is purchased by the vehicle's owner.
For many years, add-on child restraints have
used the adult belt system in the vehicle.
To help
reduce the chance of injury, the child also has to
be secured within the restraint. The vehicle's
belt system secures the add-on child restraint in the
vehicle, and the add-on child restraint's harness
system holds the child in place within the restraint.
One system, the three-point harness, has straps that
come down over each of the infant's shoulders and
buckle together at the crotch. The five-point harness
system has two shoulder straps, two hip straps and
a crotch strap. A sirieici rnay iake ihe piace oi hip
straps. A T-shaped shield has shoulder straps that
are attached to a flat pad which rests low against the
child's body.
A shelf- or armrest-type shield has
straps that are attached to a wide, shelf-like shield
that
S?..,l!?cJS up or io the side.
1-53