1996 BUICK CENTURY Owners Manual

Folding Third Seat (Option)
To lower the rear-facing third seatback:
I. Open the liftgate and lift the seat release lever
located
at the lower corner of the storage
compartment on
the passenger side.
2. Pull the seatback toward the rear of the vehicle, then
push it down to the locked position.
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3. Lower the storage compartment lid. To raise the rear-facing third seatback:
If your vehicle is equipped with a roll-up cargo cover, it
must be removed before raising the seatback.
1. Open the liftpate and lift the storage compartment lid.
2. Fold it forward against the seatback.
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I
3. Press down on the seat release levers (one on each
side of the seat), and allow the seatback to pop up. 4. Push the seatback all the way up until it locks in the
upright position. Push back and forth on the seatback
to be sure
it is locked in place.
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Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
This part of the manual tells you how to use safety belts
properly. It also tells you some things you should not do
with safety belts.
And it explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS),
or air bag system.
Don’t let anyone ride where he or she can’t wear
a safety belt properly.
If you are in a crash and
you’re not wearing
a safety belt, your injuries
can be much worse.
You can hit things inside the
vehicle or be ejected from it. You can be seriously
injured or killed. In the same crash, you might
not be if you are buckled up. Always fasten your
safety belt, and check that your passengers’ belts
are fastened properly too.
Your car has a light that
comes on as a reminder
to buckle up. (See “Safety
Belt Warning Light” in
the Index
.)
In most states and Canadian provinces, the law says to
wear safety belts. Here’s why:
They work.
You never know if you’ll be in a crash. If you do have a
crash, you don’t know
if it will be a bad one.
A few crashes are mild, and some crashes can be so
serious that even buckled up a person wouldn’t survive.
But most crashes are
in between. In many of them,
people who buckle up can survive and sometimes
walk away. Without belts they could have been badly
hurt or killed.
After more than
25 years of safety belts in vehicles,
the facts are clear. In most crashes buckling up does
matter
.. . a lot!
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Why Safety Belts Work
When you ride in or on anything, you go as fast as
it goes.
Take the simplest vehicle. Suppose it's just a seat
on wheels. Put
someone
on it.
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Get it up to speed. Then stop the vehicle. The rider
doesn't stop. The
person keeps going until stopped by something.
In a real vehicle, it could be the windshield . . .
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or the instrument panel ... or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down
as the vehicle does.
You get more time to stop. You stop over more distance,
and your strongest bones take the forces. That’s why
safety belts make such good sense.
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Here Are Questions Many People Ask
About Safety Belts -- and the Answers
QZ Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if
I’m wearing a safety belt?
A: You could be -- whether you’re wearing a safety
belt or not. But
you can unbuckle a safety belt,
even if you’re upside down. And your chance of
being conscious during and after an accident,
so
you can unbuckle and get out, is much greater if
you are belted.
QZ If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have to
wear safety belts?
&.’ If I’m a good driver, and I never drive far from
home, why should
I wear safety belts?
A: You may be an excellent driver, but if you’re in an
accident
-- even one that isn’t your fault -- you and
your passengers can be hurt. Being a
good driver
doesn’t protect you from things beyond your
control, such as bad drivers.
Most accidents occur within
25 miles (40 km)
of home. And the greatest number of serious
injuries and deaths occur at speeds
of less than
40 mph (65 km/h).
Safety belts are for everyone.
A: Air bags are in many vehicles today and will be in
most of them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems
only; so they work with
safety belts -- not instead of them. Every air bag
system ever offered
for sale has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you’re in a vehicle that has air
bags, you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That’s true not only
in frontal collisions,
but especially in side and other collisions.
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