1996 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Owners Manual

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WTION:
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.
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
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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 internal organs
like your liver or spleen.
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A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times.
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A: The belt is twisted across the body.
A CAUTION:
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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
Air Bag System
This part explains the air bag system.
Your Corvette has two air bags
-- one air bag for the
driver and another air bag for the passenger.
Here
are the most important things to know about the air
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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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Air bags inflate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye.
If you’re too close to an inflating
air bag, it could seriously injure you. Safety belts
help keep you in position for an air bag inflation
in a crash. Always wear your safety belt, even
with an air bag. The driver should sit as
far back
as possible while still maintaining control of the
vehicle.
e
An inflating air bag can seriously injure small
children. Always secure children properly in your
vehicle.
To read how, see the part of this manual
called “Children” and the caution label on the
passenger’s safety belt.
AIR
BAG
There is an air bag readiness
light on the instrument
panel, which shows AIR
BAG.
The system checks the air bag’s electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you if there
is an electrical
problem. See “Air Bag Readiness Light” in the Index
for more information.
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How the Air Bag System Works
The passenger’s air bag is in the instrument panel on the
passenger’s side.
Where is the air bag?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the steering wheel.

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Don’t put anything on, or attach anything to, the
steering wheel or instrument panel. Also, don’t
put anything (such as pets or objects) between
any occupant and the steering wheel or
instrument panel. If something is between an
occupant and an air bag, it could affect the
performance of the air, bag
-9 or worse, it could
cause injury.
When should
an air bag inflate?
The air bag is designed to inflate in moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crashes. The air bag will inflate
only if the impact speed is above the system’s designed
“threshold level.” If your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level is
about
9 to 15 mph (14 to 24 km/h). The threshold level
‘can vary, however, with specific vehicle design,
so that
it can be somewhat above or below this range. If your
vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such
as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The air
bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side
impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
It is possible that in a crash only one of the two
air bags in
your Corvette will deploy. This is rare, but can happen in a
crash just severe enough to make
an air bag inflate.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
Inflation
is determined by the angle of the impact and
the vehicle’s deceleration. Vehicle damage is only one
indication of this.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In a frontal or near-frontal impact of sufficient severity,
the air bag sensing system detects that the vehicle is
suddenly stopping as a result of a crash. The sensing
system triggers a chemical reaction of the sodium azide
sealed in the inflator. The reaction produces nitrogen
gas, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and
related hardware are all part
of the air bag modules
packed inside the steering wheel and in the instiument
panel in front of the passenger.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel. The air bag supplements the
protection provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute
the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant’s
upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually. But air bags would not help you in many types
of collisions,
including rollovers, rear impacts and side impacts,
primarily because
an occupant’s motion is not toward the
air bag. Air bags should never be regarded as anything
more than a supplement to safety belts, and then only in
moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions.
What will you see after an air bag inflates?
After the air bag inflates, it quickly deflates. This occurs
so quickly that some people may not even realize the air
bag inflated. Some components of the air bag module in
the steering wheel hub for the driver’s air bag, or the
instrument panel for the passenger’s bag, will be hot
for a short time. The part of the bag that comes into
contact with you may be warm, but it will never be
too hot to touch. There will be some smoke and dust
coming from vents
in the deflated air bags. Air bag
inflation will not prevent the driver from seeing or from
being able to steer the vehicle, nor will it stop people
from leaving the vehicle.
When an air bag inflates, there is dust in the air.
This dust could cause breathing problems for
people with a history
of asthma or other
breathing trouble. To avoid this, everyone in the
vehicle should get out
as soon as it is safe to do so.
If you have breathing problems but can’t get out
of the vehicle after an air bag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening a window or door.
n many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
passenger air bag.
0 The air bags are designed to inflate only once. After
they inflate, you’ll need some new parts for your air
bag system. If
you don’t get them, the air bag system
won’t be there to help protect you in another crash.
A new system will include air bag modules and
possibly other parts. The service manual for your
vehicle covers the need to replace other parts.
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