ECU PONTIAC VIBE 2008 Owners Manual

Front Seats......................................................1-2
Manual Seats................................................1-2
Seat Height Adjuster.......................................1-3
Reclining Seatbacks........................................1-3
Head Restraints.............................................1-5
Passenger Folding Seatback............................1-6
Rear Seats.......................................................1-8
Rear Seat Operation.......................................1-8
Safety Belts...................................................1-10
Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone................1-10
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly.................1-15
Lap-Shoulder Belt.........................................1-23
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy..................1-26
Safety Belt Extender.....................................1-26
Child Restraints.............................................1-27
Older Children..............................................1-27
Infants and Young Children............................1-30
Child Restraint Systems.................................1-33
Where to Put the Restraint.............................1-36Lower Anchors and Tethers for
Children (LATCH)......................................1-37
Securing a Child Restraint in a
Rear Seat Position....................................1-44
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat Position............................1-46
Airbag System...............................................1-50
Where Are the Airbags?................................1-52
When Should an Airbag Inate?.....................1-55
What Makes an Airbag Inate?.......................1-57
How Does an Airbag Restrain?.......................1-57
What Will You See After an Airbag Inates?.....1-58
Passenger Sensing System............................1-59
Servicing Your Airbag-Equipped Vehicle...........1-64
Adding Equipment to Your Airbag-Equipped
Vehicle....................................................1-65
Restraint System Check..................................1-66
Checking the Restraint Systems
......................1-66
Replacing Restraint System Parts
After a Crash............................................1-67
Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
1-1

Pull the head restraint up
to raise it. To lower the
head restraint, press
the button, located on
the top of the seatback,
and push the head
restraint down.
The rear seats may have head restraints that can be
adjusted in height like the front head restraints.Passenger Folding Seatback
{CAUTION:
If you fold the seatback forward to carry longer
objects, such as skis, be sure any such cargo
is not near an airbag. In a crash, an inating
airbag might force that object toward a person.
This could cause severe injury or even death.
Secure objects away from the area in which an
airbag would inate. For more information, see
Where Are the Airbags? on page 1-52and
Loading Your Vehicle on page 4-19.
{CAUTION:
Things you put on this seatback can strike
and injure people in a sudden stop or turn,
or in a crash. Remove or secure all items
before driving.
1-6

Lap-Shoulder Belt
All seating positions in your vehicle have a
lap-shoulder belt.
Here is how to wear a lap-shoulder belt properly.
1. Adjust the seat, if the seat is adjustable, so you
can sit up straight. To see how, see “Seats” in
the Index.
2. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Do not let it get twisted.
The lap-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.
If you ever pull the shoulder portion of a passenger
belt out all the way, you may engage the child
restraint locking feature. If this happens, just let
the belt go back all the way and start again.3. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
If you nd that the latch plate will not go fully into
the buckle, see if you are using the correct buckle.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is
secure. If the belt is not long enough, seeSafety
Belt Extender on page 1-26.
Make sure the release button on the buckle is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if necessary.
1-23

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 do not wear safety belts.
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.
The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the
mother. When a safety belt is worn properly, it is
more likely that the fetus will not be hurt in a crash.
For pregnant women, as for anyone, the key to
making safety belts effective is wearing them properly.
Safety Belt Extender
If the vehicle’s safety belt will fasten around you,
you should use it.
But if a safety belt is not long enough, your dealer/retailer
will order you an extender. When you go in to order it,
take the heaviest coat you will wear, so the extender will
be long enough for you. To help avoid personal injury, do
not let someone else use it, and use it only for the seat it
is made to t. The extender has been designed for adults.
Never use it for securing child seats. To wear it, just
attach it to the regular safety belt. For more information,
see the instruction sheet that comes with the extender.
Always disconnect the extender from the safety belt after
you use it so that the airbag will work properly the next
time someone uses that seat.
When you use a safety belt extender in the right front
passenger’s seat, make sure the passenger airbag status
indicator shows “ON.” SeePassenger Airbag Status
Indicator on page 3-30. If the indicator shows “OFF,”
disconnect the extender’s latch from the buckle then
reconnect the safety belt. Make sure the indicator light
shows “ON”, then reconnect the safety belt extender. If
you use the safety belt extender while the indicator light
shows “OFF,” the right front passenger’s frontal and
seat-mounted side impact airbags (if equipped) may not
activate correctly. SeeAirbag System on page 1-50for
important safety information about your airbags.
1-26

Infants and Young Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! This includes
infants and all other children. 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.
{CAUTION:
Children can be seriously injured or strangled
if a shoulder belt is wrapped around their
neck and the safety belt continues to tighten.
Never leave children unattended in a vehicle
and never allow children to play with the
safety belts.
Every time infants and young children ride in vehicles,
they should have the protection provided by appropriate
restraints. Children who are not restrained properly
can strike other people, or can be thrown out of
the vehicle. In addition, young children should not
use the vehicle’s adult safety belts alone; they need
to use a child restraint.
{CAUTION:
People should never hold an infant in their
arms while riding in a vehicle. An infant does
not weigh much — until a crash. During a
crash an infant will become so heavy it is not
possible to hold it. For example, in a crash at
only 25 mph (40 km/h), a 12 lb (5.5 kg) infant
will suddenly become a 240 lb (110 kg) force
on a person’s arms. An infant should be
secured in an appropriate restraint.
1-30

Q:What are the different types of add-on child
restraints?
A:Add-on child restraints, which are purchased by the
vehicle’s owner, are available in four basic types.
Selection of a particular restraint should take
into consideration not only the child’s weight, height,
and age but also whether or not the restraint will
be compatible with the motor vehicle in which it
will be used.
For most basic types of child restraints, there are
many different models available. When purchasing
a child restraint, be sure it is designed to be
used in a motor vehicle. If it is, the restraint will
have a label saying that it meets federal motor
vehicle safety standards.
The restraint manufacturer’s instructions that come
with the restraint state the weight and height
limitations for a particular child restraint. In addition,
there are many kinds of restraints available for
children with special needs.
{CAUTION:
Newborn infants need complete support,
including support for the head and neck. This
is necessary because a newborn 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 seat settles into the restraint,
so the crash forces can be distributed across
the strongest part of an infant’s body, the
back and shoulders. Infants should always
be secured in appropriate infant restraints.
1-32

{CAUTION:
The body structure of a young child is quite
unlike that of an adult or older child, for whom
the safety belts are designed. A young child’s
hip bones are still so small that the vehicle’s
regular safety belt may not remain low on the
hip bones, as it should. Instead, it may settle
up around the child’s abdomen. In a crash,
the belt would apply force on a body area that
is unprotected by any bony structure. This
alone could cause serious or fatal injuries.
Young children should always be secured in
appropriate child restraints.
Child Restraint Systems
A rear-facing infant
seat (A) provides restraint
with the seating surface
against the back of
the infant.
The harness system holds the infant in place and, in a
crash, acts to keep the infant positioned in the restraint.
A forward-facing child
seat (B) provides restraint
for the child’s body
with the harness.
1-33

A booster seat (C-D) is a child restraint designed to
improve the t of the vehicle’s safety belt system.
A booster seat can also help a child to see out the
window.
Securing an Add-On Child Restraint
in the Vehicle
{CAUTION:
A child can be seriously injured or killed in a
crash if the child restraint is not properly
secured in the vehicle. Make sure the child
restraint is properly installed in the vehicle
using the vehicle’s safety belt or LATCH
system, following the instructions that came
with that restraint, and also the instructions
in this manual.
1-34

To help reduce the chance of injury, the child restraint
must be secured in the vehicle. Child restraint systems
must be secured in vehicle seats by lap belts or the
lap belt portion of a lap-shoulder belt, or by the LATCH
system. SeeLower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH) on page 1-37for more information. A child can
be endangered in a crash if the child restraint is not
properly secured in the vehicle.
When securing an add-on child restraint, refer to the
instructions that come with the restraint which may be
on the restraint itself or in a booklet, or both, and to this
manual. The child restraint instructions are important,
so if they are not available, obtain a replacement
copy from the manufacturer.
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.Securing the Child Within the
Child Restraint
{CAUTION:
A child can be seriously injured or killed in
a crash if the child is not properly secured
in the child restraint. Because there are
different systems, it is important to refer to
the instructions that come with the restraint.
Make sure the child is properly secured,
following the instructions that came with
that restraint.
1-35

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 recommend that children and child restraints
be secured in a rear seat, including: an infant or a child
riding in a rear-facing child restraint; a child riding in
a forward-facing child seat; an older child riding in
a booster seat; and children, who are large enough,
using safety belts.
A label on your sun visor says, “Never put a rear-facing
child seat in the front.” This is because the risk to the
rear-facing child is so great, if the airbag deploys.{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s airbag inates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the right front passenger’s
frontal airbag if the system detects a rear-facing
child restraint, no system is fail-safe, and no
one can guarantee that an airbag will not deploy
under some unusual circumstance, even
though it is turned off. We recommend that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in a
rear seat, even if the airbag is off.
If you secure a forward-facing child restraint in
the right front seat, always move the front
passenger seat as far back as it will go. It is
better to secure the child restraint in a rear seat.
SeePassenger Sensing System on page 1-59
for additional information.
1-36