child seat PONTIAC FIREBIRD 1998 Owners Manual

Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Here you’ll find information about the seats in your Pontiac and how to use your safety belts proper\
ly. You can also
learn about some things you should not do with air bags and safety belts.
1-2 Seats and Seat Controls
1- 13 Here Are Questions Many People Ask About
1-14 How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
1-8 Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
Safety
Belts -- and the Answers
1-14 Driver Position
1-21 Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
1-22 Right Front Passenger Position
1-22
1-28
1-31
1-34
1-44 1-47
1-47 1-47
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
Rear Seat Passengers
Children
Child Restraints
Larger Children
Safety Belt Extender
Checking Your Restraint Systems
Replacing Restraint System
Parts After
a Crash
1-1

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
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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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 hm 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:
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.

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. Here’s why:
’ION:
A child in a rearfacing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed
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 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. 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 “Seats” in the Index.)
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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6. To tighten the belt, pull up on the shoulder belt while
you push down on the child restraint.
You may find it
helpful
to use your knee to push down on the child
restraint as you tighten the belt.
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. directions to
be sure it is secure.
Larger Children
a
U
Children who have outgrown child restraints should
wear the vehicle’s safety belts.
Accident statistics show that children
are safer if they
are restrained in the rear seat. But
they need to use the
safety belts properly.
Children who aren’t buckled up can be thrown out in
Children who aren’t buckled up can strike other
a
crash.
people who are.
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@ What if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt,
but the child is
so small that the shoulder belt is
very close to the child’s face or neck?
A: Move the child toward the center of the vehicle, but
be sure that the shoulder belt still is on the child’s
shoulder,
so that in a crash the child’s upper body
would have the restraint that belts provide.
A CAUTION: I
I
I
Here a child is sitting in a seat that has a
lap-shoulder belt, but the shoulder part is behind
the child.
If the child wears the belt in this way, in
a crash the child might slide under the belt. The
belt’s force would then be applied right on the
child’s abdomen. That could cause serious
or
fatal injuries.
Wherever the child sits, the lap portion of the belt
should be
worn low and snug on the hips, just touching
the child’s thighs.
This applies belt force to the child’s
pelvic bones in a crash.
1-46

If you put things inside your vehicle -- like suitcases,
tools, packages or anything else
-- they will go as fast as
the vehicle goes. If you have to stop
or turn quickly, or
if there is a crash, they’ll keep going.
1 /d CAUTION:
Do not load your vehicle any heavier than the
GVWR, or either the maximum front or rear
GAWR. If you do, parts on your vehicle can
break, or it can change the way your vehicle
handles. These could cause
you to lose control.
Also, overloading can shorten the life of
your vehicle. Things
you put inside your vehicle can strike
and injure people in a sudden stop
or turn, or
in a crash.
0 Put things in the rear area of your vehicle.
Try to spread the weight evenly.
Never stack heavier things, like suitcases,
inside the vehicle
so that some of them are
above the tops
of the seats.
Don’t leave an unsecured child restraint in
your vehicle.
I. When you carry something inside the
vehicle, secure it whenever you can.
Don’t leave a seat folded down unless
you need to.
L
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