PONTIAC BONNEVILLE 2003 Workshop Manual

Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat Position
Your vehicle has a right front passenger air bag.
Never put a rear facing child restraint in this seat.
t e’s why:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front passenger’s air bag inflates. This is because
the back
of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inflating air bag. Always secure
a rear-facing child restraint in a
rear seat.
Although a rear seat is a safer place, you can secure a
forward-facing child restraint in the right front seat.
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See
Top Strap on
page 1-37 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. Because your vehicle has a right front passenger
air bag, always move the seat as far back as it will
go before securing a forward-facing child restraint.
See
Power Seats on page 1-2.
2. Put the restraint on the seat.
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.
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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. Pull the rest of the lap belt all the way out of the
retractor to set the lock.
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6. To tighten the belt, feed the lap belt back into the
retractor while you push down on the child restraint.
down on the child restraint as you tighten the belt.
directions to be sure it is secure.
I You may find it helpful to use your knee to push
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
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.
k
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Air Bag Systems
This part explains the frontal and side impact air bag
systems.
Your vehicle has a frontal air bag for the driver and a
frontal air bag for the right front passenger. Your vehicle
may also have a side impact air bag for the driver,
and another side impact air bag for the right front
passenger.
If your vehicle has a side impact air bag for the
driver, the words AIR BAG will appear on the air bag
covering on the side of the driver’s seatback closest
to the door.
If your vehicle has a side impact air bag for the right
front passenger, the words
AIR BAG will appear on the
air bag covering on the side
of the right front
passenger’s seatback closest to the door.
Frontal air bags are designed to help reduce the risk of
injury
from the force oi ai-1 hiititiiiy f~~t~l zir bag.
But these air bags must inflate very quickly to do their
job and comply with federal regulations.
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Here are the most important things to know about the
air bag systems:
You cam
I oe ,,.,:ely injured or ki....d 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 designed to work
with safety belts but don’t replace them.
Frontal air bags for the driver and right front
passenger are designed to deploy only in
moderate to severe frontal and near frontal
crashes. They aren’t designed to inflate at all
in
rollover, rear or low-speed frontal crashes, or in
many side crashes. And, for some unrestrained
occupants, frontal air bags may provide less
protection
in frontal crashes than more forceful
air bags have provided
in the past.
CAUTION: (Continued) The
side impact air bags for the driver and
right front passenger are designed to inflate
only inmoderate to severe crashes where
something hits the side of your vehicle. They
aren’t designed to inflate in frontal, in rollover
or
in rear crashes.
Everyone
in your vehicle should wear a safety
belt properly
- whether or not there’s an air
bag for that person.
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Both frontal a1 ._ .mpac- -ir bags infli---
with great force, faster than the blink
of an eye.
If you’re too close to an inflating air bag, as you
would be if you were leaning forward,
it could
seriously injure you. Safety belts help keep you
in position for air bag inflation before and
during a crash. Always wear your safety belt,
even with frontal air bags. The driver should sit
as far back
as possible while still maintaining
control of the vehicle. Front occupants should not lean on or sleep against the door.
,yone
10 is 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 the best protection for adults,
but
not for young chiidren and infants. ~ ~~~ ~
CAUTION: (Continued) 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
“Older Children” or “Infants and Young
Children”.
AIR
BAG
instrument panel, which
shows
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 on page 3-40.
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Where Are the Air Bags?
The driver’s frontal air bag is in the middle of the
steering wheel. The
right front passenger’s frontal air bag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side. If your vehicle has one, the driver’s side impact
air bag is in the side
of the driver’s seatback closest
to the door.
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If your vehicle has one, the right front passenger’s side
impact air bag is in the side
of the passenger’s
seatback closest to the door.
r
If something is between an occupant and an
air bag, the bag might not inflate properly or
it
might force the object into that person causing
severe injury or even death. The path of an
inflating air bag must be kept clear. Don’t
put
anything between an occupant and an air bag,
and don’t attach or put anything on the
steering wheel
hub or on or near any other air
bag covering. Don’t let seat covers block the
inflation path of a side impact air bag.
When Should an Air Bag Inflate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal air bags
are designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal
cr ~ear-frsnta! crashes. En? ?hey are designed to inflate
only
if the impact speed is above the system’s
designed “threshold level”.
In addition, your vehicle
has “dual stage” frontal air
bags, which adjust the amount of restraint according to
CEEKsewrty.
For rnodemtefrourtatimpacts-tt-tese ~
air bags inflate at a level less than full deployment. For
more severe frontal impacts, full deployment occurs.
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If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall
that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level
for the reduced deployment is about 10 to 16 mph
(18 to 26 km/h),
and the threshold level for a full
deployment is about 18 to
24 mph (29 to 38.5 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 driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal
air bags are not designed to inflate
in rollovers, rear
impacts, or in many side impacts because inflation
would not help the occupant.
Your vehicle may or may not have
a side impact air
bag. See Air Bag Systems in the Index. Side impact air
bags are designed to inflate
in moderate to severe
side crashes. A side impact air bag will inflate
if
the crash severity is above the system’s designed
‘threshold level’. The threshold level can vary with
specific vehicle design. Side impact air bags are not
designed to inflate
in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
A side impact air bag will only deploy
on the side of the vehicle that is struck.
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. For
frontal air bags, inflation is determined by the angle
of the impact and how quickly the vehicle slows down
in frontal and near-frontal impacts. For side impact
air bags, inflation is determined by the location
and severity of the impact.
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. For
both frontal and side impact air bags, the sensing
system triggers a release of gas from the inflator, which
inflates the air bag. The inflator, the air bag and
related hardware are
all part of the air bag modules.
Frontal air bag modules are located inside the steering
wheel and instrument panel. For vehicles with side
impact air bags, the air bag modules are located in the
seatback closest to the driver’s and/or right front
passenger’s door.
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. In moderate to severe side
collisions, even belted occupants can contact the inside
of the vehicle. 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.
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But the frontal air bags would not help you in many
types of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts, and
many side impacts, primarily because an occupant’s
motion is not toward the air bag. Side impact air bags
would not help you in many types of collisions,
including frontal or near frontal collisions, rollovers, and
rear impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion
is not toward those air bags. Air bags should never
be regarded as anything more than a supplement to
safety belts, and then only in moderate to severe frontal
or near-frontal collisions for the driver’s and right front
passenger’s frontal air bags, and only in moderate
to severe side collisions for vehicle’s with a driver’s and
right front passenger‘s side impact air bag.
What Will You See After an Air Bag
Inflates?
After the 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 will be
hot for a short time. These components include the
steering wheel hub for the driver’s frontal air bag and the
instrument panel for the right front passenger’s frontal
air bag. For vehicles with side impact air bags, the side
of the seatback closest to the driver’s and/or right
front passenger’s
door will be hot. The parts of the bag
that come into contact with you may be warm, but
not too hot
to touch. There will be some smoke and dust coming
from the vents in the deflated air bags. Air bag
inflation doesn’t prevent the driver from seeing or
being able to steer the vehicle, nor does it stop people
from leaving the vehicle.
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 in
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 a door.
If you experience breathing
problems following an air bag deployment, you
should seek medical attention.
Your vehicle has a feature that will automatically unlock
the doors and turn the interior lamps on when the air
bags inflate (if battery power is available). You can lock
the doors again and turn the interior lamps
off by
using the door Imk and interior !amp contro!s.
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