1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Owner's Manuals

R Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Here you’ll find information about the seats in your
Oldsmobile and how to use your safety belts properly.
You can also learn about some things you should
not do
with air bags and safety belts.
Seats and Seat Controls
This section tells you how to adjust the seats and explains
reclining seatbacks, folding rear seats and head restraints.
Manual Front Seat
CAUTION:
You can lose control of the vehicle if you try to
adjust
a manual driver’s seat while the vehicle is
moving. The sudden movement could startle and
confuse you, or make you push a pedal when you
don’t want to. Adjust the driver’s seat only when
the vehicle is not moving. Lift the bar under the front of the seat to unlock it. Slide
the seat
to where you want it and release the bar. Try to
move the seat with your body to be sure the seat is
locked in place.
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Power Seat (Option)
B
FRONT (A): Raise the front of the seat by holding the
switch up. Hold the switch down to lower the front of
the seat.
CENTER (B): Move the seat forward or backward by
holding the control to the front or back. 'Raise or lower
the seat, by holding' the control up or down.
REAR (C): Raise the rear of the seat by holding the
switch up. Hold the switch down to lower the rear
of
the seat.
Reclining Front Seatbacks (2-Door Models)
Lift the lever to release the seatback, then move the
seatback to where you want it. Release the lever to lock
the seatbackin place. Pull up
on the lever without
pushing on the seatback, and the seatback will
move forward.
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Head Restraints
Sitting in a reclined position when your vehicle is
in motion can be dangerous. Even
if you buckle
up, your safety belts can’t do their job when
you’re reclined like this.
The shoulder belt can’t do its job because it
won’t be against your body. Instead, it will be in
front of you. In a crash you could go into it,
receiving neck or other injuries.
The lap belt can’t do its job either. In a crash the
belt could go up over your abdomen. The belt
forces would be there, not at your pelvic bones.
This could cause serious internal injuries.
For proper protection when the vehicle is in
motion, have the seatback upright. phen sit
well back
in the seat and wear your safety
belt properly.
Slide the head restraint up or down so that the top of the
restraint is closest to the top of your ears.
This position
reduces the chance
of a neck injury in a crash.
Seatback Latches (2-Door Models)
The front seat folds forward
to let people get into the
back seat. Your seatback
will move back and forth
freely, unless you come to a
sudden stop. Then it will‘
lock in place.
If your vehicle is parked facing down a fairly steep hill,
the seatback may not fold without some help from you.
To fold the locked seatback forward, push the seatback
toward the rear and lift this latch. Then the seatback will
fold forward. The latch must be down for the seat to
work properly.
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Split Folding Rear Seat (Option) Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
Pull forward on the seat tab to fold the seat down. To
return the seat to its original position, push it back up
and make sure it latches. This
part
of the manual tells you how to use safety belts
properly. It also tells you some things you should not do
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with safety belts.
And it explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS), or air bag system.
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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 vehicle has a light
that comes on as a
reminder to buckle up. (See “Safety Belt
Reminder 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!
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.
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Put someone on it.
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Get it up to speed. Then stop the vehicle. The rider
doesn’t stop.
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