1996 BUICK REGAL Owners Manual

bw to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Adull
This part is only for people of adult size.
Be aware that there are special things to know about safety
belts and children. And there are different rules for smaller
children and babies. If
a child will be riding in your Buick,
see the part
of this manual called “Children.” Follow those
rules for everyone’s protection.
First, you’ll want to know which restraint systems your
vehicle has.
We’ll start with the driver position.
Driver Position
This part describes the driver’s restraint system.
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The driver has a lap-shoulder belt. Here’s how to wear
it properly.
1. Close and lock the door.
2. Adjust the seat (to see how, see “Seats’’ in the Index)
so you can sit up straight.
3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let it get twisted.
The shoulder belt may lock if you
pull the belt across
you very quickly. If this happens, let the belt
go back
slightly
to unlock it. Then pull the belt across you
more slowly.
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4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure
it is secure. If
the belt isn’t long enou,gh, see “Safety Belt
Extender” at the end
of this section.
Make sure the release button on the buckle is
positioned
so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if you ever had to.
5. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end
of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder belt.
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.
The safety belt locks
if there’s a sudden stop or crash, or
if you pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor.
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Shoulder :It He at Adjuster (4-DOOr : Idels) To move it down, squeeze the release lever and move
Before you begin
to drive, move the shoulder belt
adjuster
to the height that is right for you. the
height adjuster to the desired position. You can move
the adjuster up just by pushing up on the shoulder belt
guide. After you move the adjuster to where
you want it,
try to move it down without squeezing the release lever
to make sure
it has locked into position.
Adjust the height
so that the shoulder portion of the
belt
is centered on your shoulder. The belt should be
away from your face and neck,
but not falling off
your shoulder.
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@ What’s wrong with this?
You can be seriously hurt if your shoulder belt is
too
loose. In a crash, you would move forward
too much, which could increase injury.
The
shoulder belt should fit against your body.
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
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What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
You can be seriously injured if your belt is
buckled in the wrong place like this.
In a crash,
the belt would go up
over your abdomen. The
belt forces would be there, not at the pelvic
bones. This could cause serious internal injuries.
Always buckle your belt into the buckle
nearest you.
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&: What's wrong with this?
You can be seriously injured if
you wear the
shoulder belt under your arm. In
a crash, your
body would move too far forward, which would
increase the chance of head and neck injury.
Also, the belt would apply too much force to the
ribs, which aren't as strong
as shoulder bones.
You could also severely injure internaI organs
like your liver or spleen.
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be
worn over the shoulder at all times.
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&.’ What’s wrong with this?
A : The belt is twisted across the body.
You can be seriously injured by a twisted belt. In
a crash, you wouldn’t have the full width
of the
belt to spread impact forces.
If a belt is twisted,
make it straight
so it can work properly, or ask
your dealer to
fix it.
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To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
The belt should go back out of the way.
Before you close the door, be sure the belt is out of the
way. If you slam the door on it, you can damage both the
belt and your vehicle.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS) or air bag system. Your
Buick
has two air bags -- one air bag for the driver
and another air bag for the right front passenger.
Here are the most important things to know about the air
bag system:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash if
you aren’t wearing your safety belt
-- even if you
have an air bag. Wearing your safety belt during a
crash helps reduce your chance of hitting things
inside the vehicle or being ejected from it. The air
bag
is only a “supplemental restraint.’’ That is, it
works with safety belts but doesn’t replace them.
Air bags are designed to work only in moderate to
severe crashes where the front of your vehicle hits
something. They aren’t designed to inflate at all in
rollover, rear, side or low-speed frontal crashes.
Everyone in your vehicle, including the driver,
should
wear a safety belt properly -- whether or
not there’s an air bag for that person.
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