PONTIAC GRAND AM 1998 Owner's Manual

If the belt stops before it reaches the buckle, tilt the
latch plate and keep pulling until you
can buckle
the belt.
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.
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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 crash.
Shoulder Belt Height Adjuster (4-Door Models)
Before you begin to drive, move the shoulder belt
adjuster to the height that is right for you.
To move it down, squeeze
the release button and move
the adjuster
to the desired position. You can move the
adjuster up just by pushing up on the shoulder belt
guide. After you move the adjuster
to where you want it,
try to move it down without squeezing the release button
to make sure it has locked into position.
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Adjust the height so that the shoulder portion of the belt is
centered on your shoulder. The belt should be away hm
your face and neck, but not falling off your shoulder.
Qt What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
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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What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
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You can be seriously injured if your belt is
buckled in the wrong place like this. In a crash,
the belt would
go up over your abdomen. The
belt forces would
be there, not at the pelvic
bones. This could cause serious internal injuries.
Always buckle your belt into the buckle
nearest you.
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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.
You can be seriously injured if you wear the
shoulder belt under your
arm. In a crash, your
body would move
too far forward, which would
increase the chance
of head and neck injury.
Also, the belt would apply too much force to the
ribs, which aren’t as strong as shoulder bones.
You could
also severely injure internal organs
like your liver or spleen.
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What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body.
You can be seriously injured by a twisted belt. In
a crash, you wouldn’t have the full width of the
belt to spread impact forces.
If a belt is twisted,
make it straight
so it can work properly, or ask
your dealer to
fix it.
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To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
The belt should
go back out of the way.
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Safety belts work for everyone, including pregnant
women. Like all occupants, they are more likely to be
seriously injured if they don’t wear safety belts.
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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.
A pregnant woman should wear a lap-shoulder belt, and
the lap portion should be worn as low as possible, below
the rounding, throughout the pregnancy.
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The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the mother. When a safety belt is worn properly, it’s more
likely that the fetus won’t be hurt in a crash. For
pregnant women, as for anyone, the key to making
safety belts effective is wearing them properly.
Right Front Passenger Position
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same
way as the driver’s safety belt. See “Driver Position’’
earlier in this section.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS)
or air bag system.
Your vehicle has two air bags -- one air bag for the
driver and another air bag for the right front passenger. Here 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 air bags. Wearing your safety belt during
a
crash helps reduce your chance of hitting things
inside the vehicle or being ejected from it. Air
bags are “supplemental restraints” to the safety
belts.
All air bags are designed to work with
safety belts, but don’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 all
in rollover, rear, side or low-speed frontal
crashes. Everyone in your vehicle should wear
a
safety belt properly -- whether or not there’s an
air bag for that person.
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UTION:
I -
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 before and during a
crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with air
bags. The driver should sit as
far back as possible
while still maintaining control of the vehicle.
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1 A CAUTION:
r Children who are up against, or very close to, an
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed.
Air bags plus lap-shoulder belts offer
the best protection for adults and older children,
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. To read how, see the
part of this manual called “Children” and see the
caution labels on the sunvisors and the right front
passenger’s safety belt.
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AIR
BAG
There is an air bag
readiness light on the
instrument panel, which shows AIR BAG.
m
The system checks the air bag 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
Where are the air bags?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
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