1997 BUICK CENTURY Owners Manual

If your child restraint has a top strap, your dealer can
obtain a kit with anchor hardware and installation
instructions specifically designed for this vehicle. The
dealer can then install the anchor for
you. In Canada,
this work will be done for you free
of charge. Or, you
may install the anchor yourself using the instructions
provided
in the kit.
Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position
U
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about the top strap
if the child restraint has one.
1. Put the restraint on the seat. Follow the instructions
for the child restraint.
2. Secure the child in the child restraint as the
instructions say.
3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder
portions of the vehicle’s safety belt through or
around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show
you how.
If the shoulder belt goes
in front of the child’s face or
neck, put it behind the child restraint.
4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is
positioned
so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if you ever had to.
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5. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of
the retractor to set the lock.
6. To tighten the belt, feed the shoulder belt back into
the retractor while you push down on the child
restraint.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt and let it
go back all the way. The safety belt
will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult
or larger child passenger. directions
to be sure
it is secure.
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Securing a Child Restraint in the Center
Rear Seat Position
U
You’ll be using the lap belt.
A child in a child restraint in the center front seat
can be badly injured by the right front passenger
air bag if it inflates. Never secure a child restraint
in the center front seat.
It’s always better to
secure a child restraint in the rear seat. You may,
however, secure a forward-facing child restraint
I
1. Make the belt as long as possible by tilting the latch
plate and pulling it along the belt.
2. Put the restraint on the seat. Follow the instructions
for the child restraint.
in the right front passenger seat, but only with
instructions say. the seat moved all the way back.
3. Secure the child in the child restraint as the
4. Run the vehicle’s safety belt through or around the
See the earlier part about the top strap if the child restraint. The child restraint instructions will show
restraint has one. you how.
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7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it
is secure. If it isn’t, secure
the restraint in
a different place in the vehicle and
contact the child restraint maker for their advice
about how to attach the child restraint properly.
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt.
It will be ready to work for an adult or larger
child passenger.
Securing a Child Restraint in the Right
Front Seat Position
5. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is
positioned
so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if
you ever had to.
6. To tighten the belt, pull its free end while you push
down on the child restraint. Your
vehicle has a right front passenger air bag.
Never
put a rear-facing child restraint in this seat. Here’s why:
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A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured if the right front passenger’s air
bag inflates. This
is because the back of a
rear-facing child restraint would be very close to
the inflating air bag. Always secure a rear-facing
child restraint in the rear seat.
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about the top strap if the child restraint has
one.
1.
2.
3.
Because your vehicle has a right front passenger air
bag, always move the seat as far back as it will
go
before securing a forward-facing child restraint. (See
“Seats” in the Index.)
Put the restraint on the seat. Follow the instructions
for the child restraint.
Secure the child in the child restraint as the
instructions say.
4. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder
portions
of the vehicle’s safety belt through or
around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show
you how.
If the shoulder belt goes in front of the child’s face
or neck, put it behind the child restraint.
5. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if you ever had to.
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r I
6. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of
the retractor to set the lock.
7. To tighten the belt, feed the shoulder belt back into
the retractor while you push down on the child
restraint.
8. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle's
safety belt and let
it go back all the way. The safety belt
will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult
or larger child passenger.
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Larger Children Children who have outgrown child restraints should
wear the vehicle’s safety belts.
If you have the choice, a child should sit next to a
window
so the child can wear a lap-shoulder belt and
get the additional restraint a shoulder belt can provide.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear seat.
But they need to use the
safety belts properly.
0 Children who aren’t buckled up can be thrown out in
Children who aren’t buckled up can strike other
a crash.
people who are.
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I
Never do this.
Here two children are wearing the same belt. The
belt can’t properly spread the impact forces.
In a
crash, the two children can be crushed together
and seriously injured.
A belt must be used by
only one person at a time.
Q: What if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt,
but the child
is so small that the shoulder belt is
very close to the child’s face or neck?
A: Move the child toward the center of the vehicle, but
be sure that the shoulder belt still is on the child’s
shoulder,
so that in a crash the child’s upper body
would have the restraint that belts provide. If the
child is sitting in a rear seat outside position, see
“Rear Safety Belt
Comfort Guides’’ in the Index.
If the child is so small that the shoulder belt is still
very close to the child’s face or neck, you might
want to place the child in the center seat position,
the one that has only a lap belt.
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