child restraint PONTIAC FIREBIRD 1996 Owners Manual

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 add children. And there are Merent rules for
smaller chldren and babies.
If a child wilI be riding in
your Pontiac, 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.
3. Pick-up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let it get twisted.
On convertible models, the shoulder belt may lock if
you pull the belt across you very quickly. If this
happens, let the belt go back slightly to unlock it.
Then pull the belt across you more slowly.
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
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Mere are the most important things to know about the air
bag system:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash if
you aren’t wearing your safety belt -- even if you
have an air bag. Wearing your safety belt during a
crash helps reduce your chance of hitting things
inside the vehicle
or being ejected from it. The air
bag is only a %upplemental restraint,’’ That is, it
works with safety belts but doesn’t replace them,
Air ,bags are designed to work only in moderate to
severe crashes where the front of your vehicle hits
something. They aren’t designed to inflate at dl in
rollover, rear, side or low-speed frontal crashes.
Everyone
in your vehicle, including the driver,
should wear
a safety belt properly - whether or
not there’s
an air bag for that person.
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Air bags inflate with great force, faster than the
blink
of an eye. If you’re too close to an inflating
air bag,,it could seriously injure you. Safety belts
help keep you in position for an
air bag inflation
in a crash. Always wear your safety belt, even
with
an air bag. The driver should sit as far
back as possible while still maintaining control
of the vehicle.
I /II CAUTION:
An inflating air bag can seriously injure small
children. Always secure children properly in your
vehicle.
To read how, see the part of this manual
called “Children” and the caution label
on the
right front passenger’s safety belt.
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Children
To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle. Everyone
in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
infants and all children
smaller than adult size. In fact,
the law in every state in the United States and in every
be
Canadian province
says children up to some age must
restrained while in a vehicle.
Smaller Children and Babies
Sder 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, thle belt wiIl likely be over the
child’s abdomen.
In a crash, the belt would apply
force
right on the child’s abdomen, which could
criuse
serious or fatal injlaries. So, be sure that
any child
small enough for one is always properly
restrained
m a child or infhnt restraint.
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Child Restraints
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.
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:
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A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured if the right front passenger’s air
bag inflates.
This is because the back of a
reapfacing child restraint would be very close to
the inflating
air bag. Always secure a rearfacing
child restraint in the rear seat.
You may, however, secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front seat. Before you secure
a forward-facing child restraint, always move the
front passenger seat
as far back as it will go. Or,
secure the child restraint
in the rear seat.
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.
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Top Strap
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.
The place where the anchor has to go is quite
close to your fuel
tank. If the anchor isn’t
installed correctly, it can make
a hole in the fuel
tank -- either then, or in a later collision.
Gasoline could leak out and be ignited, and
people in the vehicle or outside
it could be badly
burned. Don’t install the anchor yourself unless
you know you can do it correctly.
For cars first sold in Canada, child restraints with a top
strap must be anchored according to Canah law.
Your dealer can obtain the hardware kit and install it
for
you, or you may install it yourself using the instructions
provided in the kit.
Use the tether hardware kit available from the dealer.
The hardware, and installation instructions were
specifically designed for
this vehicle.
If you have a convertible, don’t use a restraint that has a
top strap in your vehicle because the top strap anchor
cannot be installed properly.
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Securing a Child Restraint in a
Rear Seat Position
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt: See the earlier part
about the top strap if the child restraint has, one.
1. Put the restraint on the seat. Follow the instructions
hr the child restraint.
2. Secure the child in the child restraint as the
instructions say.
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 shw you how.
Tilt’the latch plate to adjust the belt if needed.
If the shoulder b’elt goes in front of the child’s face or
neck, put it behind the child restraint.
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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. To tighten the belt, pull up on the shoulder belt while
you push down on the child restraint.
6. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions
to be sure it is secure.
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.
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Securing a Child Restraint in me
Right Front Seat Position
Your vehicle has a right front passenger air bag. Never
put a rear-facing child restraint in this seat. 1 :e’s why:
A
child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured if the right
front passenger’s air
bag inflates, This is because the back of a
rear-facing chiId
restraint would be very close to
the inflating air
bag. Always secure a rearfacing
child restraint in the rear seat.
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about the top strap if the child restraint has one.
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 “Seats”
in the Index.)
2. Put the restraint on the seat. Follow the instmctions
for
the child restraint.
3. Secure the child in the child restraint as the
instructions sqy.
4. 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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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.
5. 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.
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6. To tighten the belt, pull up on the shoulder belt while
you push down on the child restraint.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
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.
Larger Childrc i
Children who have outgrown child restraints should
wear the vehicle’s safety belts.
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