PONTIAC GRAND-AM 1993 Owner's Guide

Seats & Safety 6elts
1
Smaller Children and Babies
(CONT.)
(Continued)
& Secure the baby in an infant
restraint.
30
Child Restraints
Be sure to 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
unless the child
is an infant and you’re
the only adult in the vehicle.
In that
case, you might want to secure the
restraint in the front seat where you can
keep an
eye on the baby.
Wherever you install it, be sure to
secure the child restraint properly.
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I 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.
I
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.
Vehicles first sold in Canada have child
restraint anchor bracket hardware in the
glove box, along with instructions for
installing it. This should be used only
with a child restraint, and
only to secure
a child restraint at a rear seating
position. Additional anchor brackets for
child restraints at the rear seating
positions are available at Pontiac
dealerships in Canada.
Securing a Child Restraint in a
Rear Outside Position
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt.
See the earlier section about the top
strap if the child restraint has one.
1 . Put the restraint on the seat. Follow
the instructions for the child
restraint.
2. Secure the child in the child restraint
as the instructions say.
3. Pull out the vehicle’s safety belt and
run the lap part through or around
the restraint. The child restraint
instructions will show you how.
Tilt the latch plate to adjust the belt if
needed.
31
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Seats & Safety 6elts
Securing a Child Restraint in a
Rear Outside Position (CONK:)
See if the shoulder belt would go in
front of the child's face or neck. If
so, put it behind the child restraint.
4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the
release button faces upward or
outward,
so you'll be able to un-
buckle it quickly if you ever need 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 the
Center Seat Position
When you secure a child restraint in the
center seating position, you'll be using
the lap belt. See the earlier section
about the top strap if the child restraint
has one.
1 . Make the belt as long as possible by
tilting the latch plate and pulling it
along the belt.
2. Put the restraint on the seat. Follow
the instructions for the child
restraint.
as the instructions say.
3. Secure the child in the child restraint
4. Run the vehicle's safety belt through
or around the restraint.
The child
restraint instructions will show you
how.
release button faces upward or out-
ward,
so you'll be able to unbuckle it
quickly if
you ever need to.
5. Buckle the belt. Make sure the
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Securing a Child Restraint in fhe
Center Seaf Posifion
(CONI)
6. To tighten the belt, pull its free end
while you push down on the child
restraint.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in
different directions to be sure it is
secure. If the child restraint isn’t
secure, turn the latch plate over and
buckle it again. Then see if it is
secure. If it isn’t, secure the restraint
in a different place in the vehicle and
contact the child restraint maker for
their advice.
To remove the child restraint, just
unbuckle the vehicle’s safety belt. It will
be ready to work for
an adult or larger
child passenger.
34
Securing a Child Resfrainf in the
Right Fmnf Seaf
To use a child restraint here, you will
need a special infantkhild seat attaching
belt and the hardware that goes with it.
See the earlier section about the top
strap if the child restraint has one. Your
dealer can get these and install the
hardware for you. It’s free. The special
belt is
GM Part No. 12340286. Your
dealer can find the correct hardware in
the accessory section of the
GM Parts
Catalog.
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- infadchild seat attaching
hardware in mother vehicle, If you
do, it may not work well and the
child rnay not be protected
properly in a crash. The special
hardware is for your vehicle only.
Also, don't use the special belt for
anything but securing a chdd
restraint in the right front seat. If
an adult or older child uses it, the
belt won't provide protection and
may even increase injury in a crash. I
Once the special hardware is installed,
please follow the instructions with it,
and these steps:
1. Unbuckle the automatic lap-shoulder
belt by pushing the button
on the
buckle.
It will stay on the door, ready to be
rebuckled for use by adults or older
children.
2. Snap one hook of the infantkhild seat
attaching belt near the floor at the
door side
of the seat.
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Seats & Safety 6elts
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat
(CONT.)
3. Put the belt’s special latch plate into
the vehicle’s safety belt buckle.
36
4. You can make the belt longer by 8. Put the hook on the free end through
tilting the buckle and pulling it along the slot
in the latch plate.
the belt.
the instructions for the child
restraint.
6. Secure the child in the child restraint
as the instructions say.
7. Run the belt through or around the
child restraint. The child restraint
instructions will show you how.
5. Put the restraint on the seat. Follow
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9. To make it tight, pull the belt while
you push
down on the child
restraint. If the belt won’t
stay tight,
switch it end for end.
IO. Push and pull the child restraint in
different directions
to be sure it is
secure.
To Remove the InfantKhild Seat
Restraint:
1. Push the button on the safety belt
buckle
and remove the special latch
plate. Leave the latch plate
on the
special belt.
2. Push the spring on the hook near the
door and remove the special belt.
3. Put the belt away in a safe place in
your vehicle, so it won’t fly around in
a crash and injure someone.
4. Remember to reattach the automatic
belt again, once the child restraint
is
removed. Be sure it isn’t twisted.
37
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Seats & Safety 6elts
Larger Children
Children who have outgrown child
restraints should wear the vehicle's
safety belts.
If you have the choice, a child should sit
next to a window
so the child can wear
a lap-shoulder belt and get the
additional restraint a shoulder belt can
provide.
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 a crash.
Children who aren't buckled up can
strike other people who are.
2061 -
Never do this.
A Here two children are wearing
the same belt. The belt can't
properly spread the impact forces.
In a crash, the two children can be
crushed together and seriously injured. A belt must be used by
only one person at
a time. I
msm 38
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Q: 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.
If the child is so small that the
shoulder belt is still very close
to the
child’s face or neck, you might want
to place the child in the center seat
position, the one that has
only a lap
belt.
I
Never do this.
A 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.
‘I
Wherever the child sits, the lap portion
of the belt should be worn low, snug and
on the hips, just touching the child’s
thighs. This applies belt force
to the
child’s pelvic bones in a crash.
3s
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