child seat PONTIAC BONNEVILLE 1998 Owners Manual

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Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Here you’ll find information about the seats in your Pontiac\
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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1-5
1-9 Seats and Seat Controls
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
Here Are Questions Many People Ask About
Safety Belts
-- and the Answers
1-10 How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
1-10 Driver Position
1 - 17 Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
1 - 18 Right Front Passenger Position
1 - 18 Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
1-24 Center Passenger Position
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1-29
1-31
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1-49
1-49 1-49 Rear Seat Passengers
Rear Safety Belt
Comfort Guides for Children
and Small Adults
Children
Child Restraints
Larger Children
Safety Belt Extender
Checking Your Restraint Systems
Replacing Restraint System Parts
After
a Crash

Q: If I’m a good driver, and I never drive far from
home, why should I wear safety belts?
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.
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 mand 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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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. There is one guide for each outside passenger position
in
the rear seat.
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:
1. Pull the elastic cord out from between the edge of
the seatback and the interior body to remove the
guide from its storage clip.

4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described in “Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions’’
earlier in this section. 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 Erom the
guides.
Pull the guide upward to expose its storage clip,
and
then slide the guide onto the clip. Rotate the guide and
clip inward and in between
the seatback and the interior
body, leaving only the loop of elastic cord exposed.
Children
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.
Smaller Children and Babies
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A CAUTION:
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Children who are up against, or very close to, any
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured or
killed. This is true even though your vehicle has
reduced-force fmntal
air bags. Air bags plus
lap-shoulder belts offer the best 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.
Always secure children properly in your vehicle.
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A forward-facing child restraint (C-E) positions a
child upright to face forward in the vehicle. These
forward-facing restraints
are designed to help
protect children
who are from 20 to 40 lbs.
(9 to 18 kg) and about 26 to 40 inches
(66 to 102 cm) in height, or up to around four years
of age. One
type, a convertible restraint, is
designed
to be used either as a rear-facing infant
seat or a forward-facing child seat.
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A booster seat (F, G) is designed for children who
are about 40 to 60 lbs. (18 to 27 kg) and about four
to eight years of age. It’s designed to improve the
fit of the vehicle’s safety belt system. Booster seats
with shields use lap-only belts; however, booster
seats without shields use lap-shoulder belts.
Booster seats can
also help a child to see out
the window.
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When choosing a child restraint, 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. Both the owner’s
manual and the child restraint instructions
are important,
so if either one of these is not available, obtain a
replacement copy
from the manufacturer.
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 rearfacing child restraint can be
seriously injured if the right front passenger’s air
bag inflates, even though your vehicle has
reduced-force frontal
air bags. This is because
the
back of the rearfacing child restraint would
be very close to the inflating air bag. Always
secure a rearfacing child restraint in a rear seat.
You may, however, secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front seat, but before
you
do, always move the front passenger seat as far
back
as it will go. It’s better to secure the child
restraint
in the rear seat.
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A child in a child restraint in the center front seat
can be badly injured by the right front passenger
air bag if it inflates, even though your vehicle has
reduced-force frontal
air bags. Never secure a
child restraint in the center front seat. It’s always
better to secure a child restraint in the rear seat.
You may secure a forward-facing child restraint
in the right front passenger seat, but before you
do, always
move the passenger seat as far back as
it will go. It’s better to secure the child restraint
in a rear seat.
I Top Strap
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.
If your child restraint has a top strap, it should be
anchored. If you need to have an anchor installed, you
can ask your Pontiac dealer to put
it in for you. If you
want to install an anchor yourself, your dealer can tell
you how to
do it.
Canadian law requires that child restraints have a top
strap, and that the strap be anchored.
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If your child restraint has a top strap, your dealer can
obtain
a kit with anchor hardware and installation
instructions specifically designed for
this vehicle. The
deder can then install the anchor for you. In Canada,
this work will be done for you free of charge. Or, you
may install the anchor yourself using the instructions
provided in the kit.
Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about the top strap
if the child restraint has one. Be sure
to follow the instructions that came
with the child
restraint. Secure
the child in the child restraint when and
as the instructions say.
1. Put the restraint on the seat.
2. 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.
3. 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.
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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.
Securing a Child Restraint in the Center
Rear Seat Position
You’ll be using the lap belt. Be sure to follow the
instructions that came with the child restraint. Secure
the child
in the child restraint when and as the
instructions say.
A child in a child restraint in the center front seat
can be badly injured or killed by the right front
passenger
air bag if it inflates, even though your
vehicle has reduced-force
frontal air bags. Never
secure a child restraint in the center front seat.
It’s always better to
secure a child restraint in the
rear seat.
You may secure a forward-facing child
restraint
in the right front passenger seat, but
before you do, always move the front passenger
seat as far back as it will go. It’s better to secure
the child restraint in
a rear seat.
See the earlier part about the top strap if the child
restraint
has one.
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