1996 OLDSMOBILE AURORA Owners Manual

@' What's wrong with this?
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4
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 retailer 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
Aurora 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:
A CAUTION:
I
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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1 I
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.
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
right front 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
Where is the air bag?
The driver's air bag is in the middle of the steering
wheel. The
right front passenger's air bag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger's side.
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1
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
-- 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
8 to 11 mph (13 to 18 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 somethine 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.
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 instrument
panel in front of the right front passenger.
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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 right front 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.
In many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right front passenger air bag.
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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0
0 Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and
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 driver’s safety belt usage at
deployment.
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 retailer for Servicing Your Air Bag-Equipped Aurora
Air bags affect how your Aurora should be serviced.
There are parts of the air bag system in several places
around your vehicle. You don’t want the system to
inflate while someone is working on your vehicle. Your
Aurora retailer and the Aurora Service Manual have
information about servicing your vehicle and the air bag
system.
To purchase a service manual, see “Service and
Owner Publications’’ in the Index.
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 module in the steering wheel or both the air
bag module and the instrument panel for the
right front passenger’s air bag.
Do not open or
break the air bag covers. For up to
10 minutes after the
ignition key is
turned off and the battery is disconnected, an air
bag can still inflate during improper service.
You
can be injured if you are close to an air bag when
it inflates. Avoid wires wrapped with yellow tape
or yellow connectors. They are probably part of
the air bag system. Be sure to follow proper
service procedures, and make sure the person
performing work for
you is qualified to do so.
The air bag system does not need regular maintenance.
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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, below
the rounding, throughout the pregnancy. 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 section.
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.
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 in 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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