1996 GMC SIERRA Owners Manual

&= What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
I A CAUTION:
You can be seriously injured i
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
i buckle your belt into the buckle nearest you.
ProCarManuals.com

I I
A: The belt is over an armrest.
A CAUTION:
You can be seriously injured if your belt goes
over an armrest like this. The belt would be much
too
high. In a crash, you can slide under the belt.
The belt force would then be applied at the
abdomen, not
at the pelvic bones, and that could
cause serious or fatal injuries. Be sure the belt
goes under the armrests.
1-18
ProCarManuals.com

Q: What's wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times.
A CAUTION:
I
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.
1-19
ProCarManuals.com

What’s wrong with this?
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.
1-20
ProCarManuals.com

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 Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) System
This part explains the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) system or air bag system.
Your vehicle may have
an air bag for the driver.
If it does, it will say
Supplemental Inflatable
Restraint on the middle part
of the steering wheel.
1-21
ProCarManuals.com

Here are the most important things to know about the
air bag system:
A CAUTION:
-
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.
A CAUTION:
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, and sit as far back as you can
while still maintaining control
of your vehicle.
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.
1-22
ProCarManuals.com

he Air Bag System Works
Where is the air bag?
The driver’s air bag is
in the middle of the
steering wheel. Don’t
put anything on, or attach anything to, the
steering wheel. Also, don’t put anything (such
as
pets or objects) between the driver and the
steering wheel. If something is between an
occupant and an air bag, it could affect the
performance
of the air bag -- 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 16 mph (14 to 26 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.
1-23
ProCarManuals.com

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.
The air bag
system is designed to work properly under a
wide range of conditions, including off-road usage.
Observe safe driving speeds, especially
on rough terrain.
As always, wear your safety belt. See “Off-Road
Driving”
in the Index for more tips on off-road driving.
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 module
packed inside the steering wheel.
How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering
wheel.
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 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 bag.
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.
1-24
ProCarManuals.com