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Part 1
Seats
Here you’ll fmd information about
the
seats in your Oldsmobile and how
to use your safety belts properly . You
can
also learn about some things you
should not do with safety belts .
Belts
Seats and Seat Controls ............................................. 14
Removing and Replacing Rear Seats ................................... 17
SafetyBelts ...................................................... 21
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly ................................... -25
DriverPosition
................................................... 25
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
.................................... 29
Right Front Passenger Position
....................................... 30
Rear Seat Passengers ............................................... 30
Ch~dren
......................................................... 34
Smaller Children and Babies
......................................... 34
ChildRes
traints ................................................... 35
LargerChildren ................................................... 40
SafetyBeltExtender
............................................... 42
Replacing Safety Belts After a Crash ................................... 42
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Seats & Safety Belts
22
Why Safety Beits Work
When you ride in or on anything, you
go as fast as it goes.
2. When the bike hits the block, it
stops. But the child keeps going! 3. Take the simplest “car.” Suppose
it’s just a seat
on wheels.
1. For example, if the bike is going
10 mph (16 km/h), so is the child.
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Seats & Safety Belts
34
Center Passenger Position (CONT.)
The center position bucket seat is a
CENTER OR LEFT type seat.
Because it is the
only bucket seat with a
lap belt, and has a buckle on only one
side, there are certain places a
CENTER OR LEFT type bucket seat
should, and should not, be used. See the
Index under Seat Controls.
If the CENTER OR LEFT bucket seat
is used on the left side of the vehicle,
the person sitting there should use the
lap-shoulder belt.
It works the same way
as the driver’s safety belt, See the
Index
under Driver Position.
Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection!
That includes infants and all children
smaller than adult size. In fact, the law
in every state and Canadian province
says children up to some age must be
restrained while
in a vehicle. Smaller
children and babies
should always be restrained in
a chiId or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint wiU
--y whether it is the right type and
for your child. A very young
child’s hip bones are so small that
a regular belt might not stay low
on the hips, as it should. Instead,
the belt will likely be over the
child’s abdomen. In a crash the
belt would apply force right on the
child’s abdomen, which could
cause serious or fatal injuries. So,
be sure that any child small enough
for one is always properly
*strained
in a chiid or infimt
straint.
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Seats & Safety Belts
36
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.
CAUTION
A
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 I
vehicle-even when no child is in it.
I
Top Strap
If your child restraint has a top strap, it
should be anchored. Anchor brackets for the
second row
outside positions are located just above
the place where the third row lap-
shoulder belts meet the
floor. There's a
vinyl sleeve there; to get to the bracket,
push this vinyl sleeve aside slightly. Anchor the top strap to the bracket.
If you need to have an anchor bracket
installed for
any additional passenger
seat position, you
can ask your
Oldsmobile dealer
to put it in for you. If
you want to install an anchor bracket
yourself, your dealer can tell you how to
do it.
Once you have the top strap anchored,
you'll
be ready to secure the child
restraint itself.
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Securing a Child Restraint in an
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.
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.
37
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Seats & Safety Belts
38
L :'
Securing a Child Restraint in an
Outside Position (CONT:)
5. To tighten the belt, pull up on the
shoulder belt while you push down
on the child restraint.
I
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.
I . :" -,.< :1 L ~
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Center Seat Position
You'll be using the lap 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.
as
the instructions say.
2. Secure the child in the child restraint
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Seats & Safety Belts
40
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Center Seat Position
(CONI)
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 sa.fety 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.
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.
I
. . . .___
X2061
Children who aren’t buckled up can
strike other people who are.
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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 I
only one person at a time.
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 a seat that has a
lap belt, if your vehicle has one.
Never do this.
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
I
Wherever the child sits, the lap portion
of the belt should be worn low and snug
on the hips, just touching the child’s
thighs. This applies belt force to the
child’s pelvic bones
in a crash.
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