SATURN VUE 2004 Workshop Manual

Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat Position
If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH
system, seeLower Anchorages and Top Tethers for
Children (LATCH System) on page 1-40. SeeTop Strap
on page 1-37if the child restraint has one.
There is no top strap anchor in the right front
passenger’s position. Do not secure a child seat in this
position if a national or local law requires that the
top strap be anchored, or if the instructions that come
with the child restraint say that the top strap must
be anchored.
Your vehicle has a right front passenger airbag.
Neverput a rear-facing child restraint in this seat.
Here is why:
{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.
Always secure a rear-facing child restraint
in a rear seat.
A rear seat is a safer place to secure a forward-facing
child restraint. If you need to secure a forward-facing
child restraint in the right front seat, you will be using the
lap-shoulder belt to secure the child restraint. 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
airbag, always move the seat as far back as it will
go before securing a forward-facing child restraint.
SeeManual Seats on page 1-2.
2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
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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.
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. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of
the retractor to set the lock.
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6. To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint,
pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the
lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder
belt back into the retractor. You may nd 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
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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Airbag Systems
This part explains the air bag systems.
Your vehicle has a frontal air bag for the driver and
another frontal air bag for the right front passenger. Your
vehicle may also have roof mounted side impact air
bags. Roof mounted side impact air bags are available
for the driver and the passenger seated directly
behind the driver and for the right front passenger and
the passenger seated directly behind that passenger.
If your vehicle has side impact air bags, the words
AIR BAG will appear on the air bag covering on
the ceiling near the driver’s and right front passenger’s
window.
Frontal air bags are designed to help reduce the risk
of injury from the force of an inating frontal air bag.
But these air bags must inate very quickly to do their
job and comply with federal regulations.
Here are the most important things to know about the
air bag systems:{CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash
if you are not wearing your safety belt — even if
you have airbags. Wearing your safety belt
during a crash helps reduce your chance of
hitting things inside the vehicle or being ejected
from it. Airbags are “supplemental restraints” to
the safety belts. All airbags are designed to
work with safety belts but do not replace them.
Frontal airbags for the driver and right front
passenger are designed to deploy only in
moderate to severe frontal and near frontal
crashes. They are not designed to inate in
rollover, rear or low-speed frontal crashes,
or in many side crashes. And, for some
unrestrained occupants, frontal airbags
may provide less protection in frontal
crashes than more forceful airbags have
provided in the past. The roof-mounted
side impact airbags are designed to inate
only in moderate to severe crashes where
something hits the side of your vehicle.
CAUTION: (Continued)
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CAUTION: (Continued)
They are not designed to inate in frontal,
in rollover or in rear crashes. Everyone in
your vehicle should wear a safety belt
properly — whether or not there is an airbag
for that person.
{CAUTION:
Both frontal and side impact airbags inate
with great force, faster than the blink of an
eye. If you are too close to an inating airbag,
as you would be if you were leaning forward,
it could seriously injure you. Safety belts help
keep you in position for airbag ination before
and during a crash. Always wear your safety
belt even with frontal airbags. The driver
should sit as far back as possible while still
maintaining control of the vehicle. Occupants
should not lean on or sleep against the door.
{CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close to,
any airbag when it inates can be seriously
injured or killed. Airbags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer the best protection for adults, but
not for young children and infants. Neither the
vehicle’s safety belt system nor its airbag
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,
seeOlder Children on page 1-28orInfants and
Young Children on page 1-31.
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There is an air bag
readiness light on the
instrument panel cluster,
which shows the air
bag symbol.
The system checks the air bag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an electrical
problem. SeeAirbag Readiness Light on page 3-28
for more information.Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s frontal airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
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The right front passenger’s frontal airbag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.If your vehicle has a side impact airbag for the driver
and the person seated directly behind the driver,
it is in the ceiling above the side windows.
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If your vehicle has a side impact airbag for the right
front passenger and the person seated directly behind
that passenger, it is in the ceiling above the side
windows.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
airbag, the bag might not inate properly or it
might force the object into that person causing
severe injury or even death. The path of an
inating airbag must be kept clear. Do not put
anything between an occupant and an airbag,
and do not attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any other
airbag covering. And, if your vehicle has
roof-mounted side impact airbags, never
secure anything to the roof of your vehicle
by routing the rope or tiedown through any
door or window opening. If you do, the path
of an inating side impact airbag will be
blocked. The path of an inating airbag must
be kept clear.
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When Should an Airbag Inate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal airbags
are designed to inate in moderate to severe frontal
or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inate
only if the impact exceeds a predetermined deployment
threshold. Deployment thresholds take into account
a variety of desired deployment and non-deployment
events and are used to predict how severe a crash
is likely to be in time for the airbags to inate and help
restrain the occupants. Whether your frontal airbags
will or should deploy is not based on how fast your
vehicle is traveling. It depends largely on what you hit,
the direction of the impact and how quickly your
vehicle slows down.
If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wal
that does not move or deform, the threshold level is
about 9 to 14 mph (14 to 23 km/h). (The threshold level
can vary, however, with specic vehicle design, so
that it can be somewhat above or below this range.)
Airbags may inate at different crash speeds. For
example:
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbag
could inate at a different crash speed than if
the object were moving.
If the object deforms, the airbag could inate at a
different crash speed than if the object does not
deform.
If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole) the
airbag could inate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a wide object (like a wall).
If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle the
airbag could inate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle goes straight into the object.
The frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger)
are not intended to inate during vehicle rollovers, rear
impacts, or in many side impacts because ination
would not likely help the occupants.
Side impact airbags are designed to inate in moderate
to severe side crashes. A side impact airbag will
inate if the crash severity is above the system’s
designed “threshold level.” The threshold level can vary
with specic vehicle design. Side impact airbags are
not designed to inate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers or rear impacts, because ination would not
likely help the occupant. A side impact airbag will
only deploy on the side of the vehicle that is struck.
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In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
airbag should have inated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair
costs were. For frontal airbags, ination is determined
by the angle of the impact and how quickly the
vehicle slows down in frontal and near-frontal impacts.
For side impact airbags, ination is determined by
the location and severity of the impact.
What Makes an Airbag Inate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. For
both frontal and side impact airbags, the sensing system
triggers a release of gas from the inator, which
inates the airbag. The inator, airbag, and related
hardware are all part of the airbag modules inside the
steering wheel and in the instrument panel in front of
the right front passenger. For vehicles with side impact
airbags, the airbag modules are located in the ceiling
of the vehicle, near the side windows.
How Does an Airbag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel
or the instrument panel. In moderate to severe side
collisions, even belted occupants can contact the inside
of the vehicle. The airbag supplements the protection
provided by safety belts. Airbags distribute the force of
the impact more evenly over the occupant’s upper
body, stopping the occupant more gradually. But the
frontal airbags would not help you in many types
of collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts, and many
side impacts, primarily because an occupant’s motion
is not toward the airbag. Side impact airbags would not
help you in many types of collisions, including frontal
or near frontal collisions, rollovers, and rear impacts,
primarily because an occupant’s motion is not toward
those airbags. Airbags should never be regarded
as anything more than a supplement to safety belts, and
then only in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal
collisions for the driver’s and right front passenger’s
frontal airbags, and only in moderate to severe
side collisions for vehicles with a driver’s and right front
passenger’s side impact airbag.
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