A
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. 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.
Safety Belt Extender
If the vehicle’s safety belt will fasten
around you, you should use it. The
automatic lap-shoulder belt has plenty
of extra length built in,
so it will fasten
around almost all people.
But if a safety belt isn’t long enough to
fasten, your dealer will order
you an
extender. It’s free. When
you go in to
order it, take the heaviest coat you will
wear,
so the extender will be long
enough for you. The extender will be
just for you, and just
for the seat in your
vehicle that you choose. Don’t let
someone else use it, and use it only for
the seat it is made to fit.
To wear it, just
attach it to the regular safety belt.
ProCarManuals.com
Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with
drinking and driving is a national
tragedy. It’s the number one contributor
to the highway death toll, claiming
thousands of victims every
year.
Alcohol takes away three things that
anyone needs to drive a vehicle:
Judgment
Muscular Coordination
Vision
Police records show that half of all
motor vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol-a driver, a passenger or
someone else, such as a pedestrian, had
been drinking. In most cases, these
deaths are the result
of someone who
was drinking and driving. Over
25,000
motor vehicle-related deaths occur each
year because of alcohol, and thousands
of people are injured. Just
how much alcohol is too much
if a
~ person plans to drive? Ideally, no one
~ should drink alcohol and then drive.
But if one does, then what’s “too
much”? It can be
a lot less than many
might think. Although it depends on
each person and situation, here is
some
general information on the problem.
The Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)
of
someone who is drinking depends upon
four things:
How much alcohol is in the drink.
The drinker’s body weight.
The amount of food that is consumed
before and during drinlung.
The length of time it has taken the
drinker to consume the alcohol.
I
According to the American Medi’cal
Association,
a 180-pound [82 kg)
person who
drinks three 12-ounce
(355 mi) bottles of beer in an hour will
end up with a
BAC of about 0.06,
percent. The person would reach the
same BAC by drinking three 4-ounce
(120 ml) glasses of wine or three mixed
drinks
if each had ll/z ounces (45 ml)
of a liquor like whiskey, gin or vodka.
It’s the amount of alcohol that counts.
For example, if the same person drank
three double martinis (3 ounces or
90 rnl of liquor each) within an hour,
the person’s BAC would be close to
0.12 percent. A person who consumes
food just before or during drinking will
have a slightly lower BAC level.
ProCarManuals.com
