PONTIAC FIREBIRD 1995 Owner's Manual

Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure. If
the belt isn’t 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.
5. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder belt.
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 be less
likely to slide under the lap belt.
If you slid under it, the
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 take belt restraining
forces. ~
belt would apply force at your abdomen. This could
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The safety belt locks if there’s a sudden stop or crash.
On convertible models, the safety belt
also locks if you
pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor.
Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
.....
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@' What's wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
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&.' What's wrong with this?
.,.'
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times.
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A: The belt is twisted across the body.
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To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
The belt should go back oubof 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 Inflatable Restraint
System
(SIR) Air Bag System
This part explains the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR), or akj bag,' system.
Your Pontiac has two
&r bags -- one air bag for the
driver
and another &r bag for the right front passenger.
Here are the most important things to
know about the air
bag system: ;.'j ...
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AIR
1 There is an air bag
readiness light on the
instrument panel,
which
shows “AIR
BAG” on it.
The system checks the air bag’s 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.
How the Air Bag System Works
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I
Where is the air bag?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the steering
wheel.
Thie right front passenger’s air bag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.
When should an air bag inflate?
The air bag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag will inflate
only if the impact speed is above the system’s designed
“threshold level.”
If your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level is
about
9 to 15 mph (14 to 24 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
air bag
is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side
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impacts, or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
It is possible that in a crash only one of the two air ,bags
in your Pontiac will deploy. This ishare, but
can happen
in a crash just severe enough to make an air bag inflate.
,, _.. . .> . .~
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.
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and
the vehicle’s deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one
indication of this.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In a frontal or near-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 air bag. The inflator, air bag, and
related hardware are all part of the air bag modules
packed inside the steering wheel and in the instrument
panel in front of the right front passenger.
How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
,‘.\.,, evep . belted occqymts can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel. 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 gradhdly. But
air bags would not help you in many types
of kollisions,
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 anythingmore
than a supplement to safety belts, and then
od$ in
moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal colliiions.
What will you see after an air bag inflates?:.: 1 i
After the air bag inflates, it quickly deflates. &is occurs
so quickly that some people may not even realize the air
bag inflated. Some components
of the air bag module in
the steering wheel hub for the driver’s air bag, or the
instrument panel for the right front passenger’s bag, will
be hot for a short time, but the part
of the bag that comes
into contact with you will not be hot to the touch. There
will be some smoke and dust corning from vents in the
deflated air bags. Air bag inflation will not prevent the
driver from seeing
or from being able to steer the
vehicle, nor will it stop people from leaving the vehicle.
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