PONTIAC GRAND AM 2003 Workshop Manual

Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers
for Children (LATCH System)
Your vehicle has the LATCH system. You’ll find
anchors (A) in the rear outside seat positions.
To assist you in locating the lower anchors for this child
restraint system, each seating position with the
LATCH system will have a label applied to the seatback
at each anchor position.
The labels are located near the base of the two
rear outside seating
positions. In
order to use the system, you need either a
forward-facing child restraint that has attaching
points
(B) at its base and a top tether anchor (C), or a
rear-facing child restraint that has attaching points
(B),
as shown here.
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If a LATCH-type child restraint isn’t attached to
its anchorage points, the restraint won’t be
able to protect a child sitting there.
In a crash,
the child could be seriously injured or killed.
Make sure that a LATCH-type child restraint
is
properly installed using the anchorage points,
or use the vehicle’s safety belts to secure the restraint. See “Securing a Child Restraint
Designed for the LATCH system” or “Securing
a Child Restraint in a Rear Seat Position’’
in
the Index for information on how to secure a
child restraint in your vehicle.
With this system, use the
LATCH system instead of the
vehicle’s safety belts to secure a child restraint.
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Securing a Child Restraint Designed
for the LATCH System
1. Find the anchors for the seating position you want
to use, where the bottom of the seatback meets the
back of the seat cushion.
2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
3. Attach the anchor points on the child restraint to the
anchors in the vehicle. The child restraint instructions will show you how.
4. If the child restraint is forward-facing, attach the top
strap
to the top strap anchor. See Top Strap on
page 1-42.
Tighten the top strap according to
the child restraint instructions.
5. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions
to be sure it is secure.
To remove the child restraint, simply unhook the top
strap from the top tether anchor and then disconnect the
anchor points.
Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position
U
If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH
system, see
Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for
Children (LATCH System) on page 1-44.
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.
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LP- 1

4.
5.
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.
Securing a Child Restraint in a
Center Rear Seat Position
U
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.
Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure. You’ll
be using the lap belt. 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. See
Top Strap on page 1-42 if the child
restraint has one.
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1. Make the belt as long as possible by tilting the latch
plate and pulling it along the belt.
h. .... ..I- I -VI.-.. *. V. I ..a- ---.. 3 Pllt tho rnctraint nn thn cnat
3. Run the vehicle’s safety belt through or around the
restraint. The child restraint instructions will show
you how.
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 its free end 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.
6. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions
to be sure it is secure.
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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.
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:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s air bag inflates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inflating air bag.
Always secure a rear-facing child restraint in a rear seat.
I I
Although a rear seat is a safer place, you can secure a
forward-facing child restraint in the right front seat.
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See
Top Strap on
page 1-42, 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
Manual Seats on page 1-2.
2. Put the restraint on the seat.
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3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder
portions of the vehicte’s safety belt through or
around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show you how.
5. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of
the retractor to set the lock.
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.
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6. To tighten the belt, feed the shoulder belt back into
the retractor 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.
directions to be sure it
is secure.
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.
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Supplemental Restraint
System
(SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS) or air bag system.
Your vehicle has air bags
- one air bag for the driver
and another air bag for the right front passenger.
Frontal air bags are designed to help reduce the risk
of
injury from the force of an inflating air bag. But these
air bags must inflate very quickly
to do their job
and comply with federal regulations.
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 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 or low-speed frontal
crashes, or
in many side crashes. And, for
some unrestrained occupants, air bags may
provide less protection in frontal crashes than
more forceful air bags have provided in the
past. Everyone in your vehicle should wear a
safety hp!t prnperly - whether nr not there’s
an air bag for that person.
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