1994 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE Owners Manual

Seats & Restraint Systems
How The Air Bag System
Works (CONK)
e
e
Your vehicle is equipped with a
diagnostic module, which records
information about the air bag system.
The module records information about
the readiness of the system, when the
sensors are activated and whether the
driver’s safety belt was in use.
Let only qualified technicians work on
your air bag system. Improper service
can mean that your air bag system
won’t work properly. See your dealer
for service.
NOTICE:
If you damage the cover for the
driver’s or
the right-front
passenger’s air bag, they may not
work properly. You may have to
replace the air bag on the steering
wheel or both the air bag and the
instrument panel for the passenger’s
air bag.
Do not open or break the air
bag covers.
Is the smoke from an air bag inflation
harmful?
The particles emitted during air bag
inflation are not harmful to most people.
Some people with respiratory ailments
may experience difficulty breathing if they
stay
in the vehicle with the windows
closed after air bag inflation.
So, if your air
bag inflates,
you and any passengers
should exit the vehicle
if and when it is
safe to
do so. If you or your passengers
can’t get out of
the vehicle, try to get fresh
air by opening a window, turning on the
fan, or opening a door.
Servicing Your Air
Bag-Equipped Pontiac
Air bags affect how your Pontiac should
be serviced. There are parts of the air bag
system in several places around xour
vehicle. You don’t want the system to
inflate while someone is working on your
vehicle. Your Pontiac dealer and the
1994
Bonneville Service Manual have
information about servicing your vehicle
and the air bag system. The air bag
system does not need regular
maintenance.
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 don’t wear safety belts.
A pregnant woman should wear a
lap-shoulder belt, and the lap portion should be worn as low as possible
throughout the pregnancy.
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The best way to protect the fetus is to
protect the mother. When
a safety belt is
worn properly, it’s more likely that the
fetus won’t be
hurt in a crash. For
pregnant women, as for anyone, the key
to
making safety belts effective is wearing
them properly.
Right Front Passenger
Position
The right front passenger’s safety belt
works the same way as the driver’s safety
belt. See “Driver Position,” earlier
in this
part.
When the lap portion of the belt is pulled
out all the way,
it will lock. If it does, let
it go back all the way and start again.
If your vehicle has a center passenger
position,
be sure to use the correct buckle
when buckling your lap-shoulder belt. If
you find that the latch plate
will not go
fully into the buckle, see if you are using
the buckle for the center passenger position
Center Passenger
Position
gp Belt
four vehicle has a front split seat and a
.r bench seat, someone can sit
in the
iter positions.
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Seats & Restraint Systems
i Certter Passenger
Position
(CONK)
When you sit in a center seating position,
you have a lap safety belt, which has no
retractor. To make the belt longer, tilt the
latch plate and pull
it along the belt.
To make the belt shorter, pull its free end
1s shown
until the belt is snug.
3uckle, position and release it the same
yay
as the lap part of a lap-shoulder belt.
f the belt isn’t long enough, see “Safety
3eit Extender” at the end of this section.
4ake sure the release button
on the
juckle
is positioned so you would be able
:o unbuckle the safety belt quickly if you
:ver had to.
i Rear Seat Passengers
It’s very important for rear seat
passengers
to buckle up! Accident
statistics show that unbelted people
in the
rear seat are hurt more often
iri crashes
than those who are wearing safety belts.
Rear passengers who aren’t safety belted
can be
thrown out of the vehicle in a
crash. And they can strike others
in the
vehicle who are wearing safety belts.
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Seats & Restraint Systems
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The lap part of the belt should be worn
low and snug on the hips, just touching
the thighs. In a crash, this applies force
to
the strong pelvic bones. And you'd be
less likely to slide under the
lap belt. If
you slid under
it, the belt would apply
force at your abdomen. This could cause
serious or even fatal injuries. The
shoulder belt should go over the shoulder
and across the chest. These parts
of the
body are best able to take belt restraining
forces. stop or a crash.
0 To
unlatch the belt, just push the
button on the buckle.
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Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection!
That includes infants and all children smaller than adult size.
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.
Smaller Children and Babies
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Seats & Restraint Systems
Smaller Children and Babies
(CONT)
ChiZd Restraints
Be sure to follow the instructions.for the
restraint. You may find these instructions
on the restraint itself or in a booklet, or
both. These restraints use the belt system
in your vehicle, but the child also has to
be secured within the restraint to help
reduce the chance of personal injury. The
instructions that come
with the infant or
child restraint will show you how to do
that.
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.
NEVER put a rear-facing child restraint
in the front passenger seat. Here’s why:
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Wherever you install it, be sure to secure
the child restraint properly.
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.
Top Strap
If your child restraint has a top strap, it
should be anchored.
If you need to have an anchor installed,
you can ask your Pontiac dealer to put it
in for you.
If you want to install an anchor
yourself, your dealer can tell you how to
do it.
For cars first sold in Canada, child
restraints with a
top strap must be
anchored according to Canadian Law.
Your dealer can obtain the hardware kit
and install it for you, or you may install it
yourself using the instructions provided in
the kit.
Use the tether hardware kit available from
the dealer. The hardware and installation
instructions were specifically designed for
this vehicle.
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