belt PONTIAC FIREBIRD 1998 Owner's Manual

0 0 Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and
diagnostic module, which records information
about the air bag system. The module records
information about the readiness of the system,
when the sensors are activated and driver’s safety belt usage at deployment.
Let only qualified technicians work on your air
bag system. Improper service can mean that your
air bag system won’t work properly. See your
dealer for service.
NOTICE:
I ~~
If you damage the covering for the driver’s or the
right front passenger’s air bag, the bag may not
work properly. You may have to replace the air
bag module in the steering wheel or both the air
right front passenger’s
air bag. Do not open or
break the
air bag coverings.
~ bag module and the instrument panel for the
Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped Vehicle
Air bags affect how your vehicle should be serviced.
There are parts of the air bag system in several places
around your vehicle. You don’t want the system to
inflate while someone is working on your vehicle. Your
dealer and the Firebird Service Manual have information
about servicing your vehicle and the air bag system.
To
purchase a service manual, see “Service and Owner
Publications’’
in the Index.
CAUTION:
I
For up to 10 minutes after the ignition key is
turned
off and the battery is disconnected, an air
bag can still inflate during improper service. You
can be injured
if you are close to an air bag when
it inflates. Avoid wires wrapped with yellow tape
or yellow connectors. They are probably part of
the air bag system. Be sure to follow proper
service procedures, and make sure the person
performing work for you
is qualified to do so.
The air bag system does not need regular maintenance.
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Rear Seat Passengers
It’s very important for rear seat passengers to buckle up!
Accident statistics show that unbelted people
in the rear
seat are
hurt more often in crashes than those who are
wearing safety belts.
Rear passengers who aren’t safety belted can be thrown out
of the vehicle in a crash. And they can strike others
in the vehicle who are wearing safety belts.
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The rear seats have lap-shoulder belts. Here’s how to
wear one properly.
1. 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.
2. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
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If the belt stops before it reaches the buckle, tilt the
latch plate and keep pulling until you can buckle
it.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure.
If the belt is not 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.
3. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder part.
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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 belt would apply force at your abdomen.
This could
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.
The safety belt locks if there’s a sudden stop or
a crash.
On convertible models, the safety belt also locks if you
pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor.
-
A CAUTION:
You can be seriously hurt if your shoulder belt is
too loose. In a crash, you would move forward
too much, which could increase injury. The
shoulder belt should
fit against your body.
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To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
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
-
A CAUTION:
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 frontal air bags. Air bags plus
lap-shoulder belts offer the best protection for
adults, 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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I A CAUTION:
Smaller children and babies should always be
restrained in a child or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint
will say whether i
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 i
should. Instead, the belt will likely be over the
child’s abdomen. In
a crash, the belt would apl
force right on the child’s abdomen, which cod(
cause serious
or fatal injuries. So, be sure that
any child small enough for
one is always prope
restrained in a child or infant restraint.
it is
it
PlY
d
Infants need complete support, including support for
the head and neck. This is necessary because an
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 restraint settles into the restraint,
so the
crash forces can be distributed across the strongest part
of the infant’s body, the back and shoulders. A baby
should be secured
in an appropriate infant restraint.
This is so important that many hospitals today won’t
release a newborn infant to its parents unless there is
an
infant restraint available for the baby’s fist trip in a
motor vehicle.
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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:
I
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 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
a 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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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. 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.

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. If you’re using
a forward-facing child restraint, you may find it
helpful to use your knee to push down on the child
restraint as you tighten the belt.
directions to be sure
it is secure.
6. Push and pull the child restraint in different
To remove the child restraint, just unbucMe 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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