1997 CADILLAC ELDORADO Owners Manual

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let it get twisted.
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
Full
up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure.
If the belt isn’t long enough, see “Safety Belt
Extender’’ at the end
of this section.
Make sure the release button
on the buckle is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if you ever had to. The lap
part
of the belt should be worn low and snug on
the hips, just touching the thighs. In a crash, this applies
force to the strong pelvic .bones. And you’d be less
likely to slide under the lap belt.
If you slid under it, the
belt would apply force at your abdomen. This could
cause serious or even fatal injuries. The shoulder belt
should go over the shoulder and across the chest.
These parts
of the body are best able to take belt
restraining forces.
The safety belt locks
if there’s a sudden stop or crash.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Your car has a shoulder belt tightness adjustment
feature.
If the shoulder belt seems too tight, adjust it
before
you begin to drive.
1. Sit well back in the seat.
2. Start pulling the shoulder belt out.
-. , . , . . . .. , ..
4. Let the belt go back all the way. You should hear a
slight clicking
sound. If you don’t, the adjustment
feature won’t set, and
you’ll have to start again.
5. Now you can add a small amount of slack. Lean
forward slightly, then sit back. If you’ve added more
than 1 inch (25 mm) of slack, pull the shoulder belt
out
as you did before and start again.
3. Just before it reaches the end, give it a quick pull. If you move around in the vehicle enough, pull out the
shoulder belt, or open your door, the belt will become
tight again.
If this happens, you can reset it.
5
I

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Q: what’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
..
You can be serioasly hurt if your shoulder belt‘ is
too loose. In a crash, you would move forward
too much, which could increase injury- The
shoulder belt should fit against your
body* Don’t
alIow ~QIV ‘than l,.inch (25 mm) of slack4 .,
’ ,” . . .’

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
.. ...
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.
AIways buckle your belt into the buckle
nearest
you.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 1
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the m. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times.
., . . ... ,
You can be seriously injured if you wear the
shoulder belt under your arm.
In a crash, your
body wodd move too far forward, which woukI
increase the chance of head and neck injury.
Also, the belt would apply too much force to the
sibs, which aren’t as strong as shoulder bones.
You could also severely injure internal organs
like your liver or spleen.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine A: The belt is twisted across the body.
. . i.
: A, CAUTION: . ..
..
YQU 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.

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.
. , ..
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.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
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 waj
start again. 1 and
This part explains the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) system or air bag system.
Your Cadillac
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:
..
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash if
YOU aren’t wearing your safety belt -- even if you
have air
bags. Wearing your safety belt during a
crash helps reduce
your chance of hitting things
inside
the vehicle or eing ejected fro
bags are “supplemental restraints” to the safety
belts. All air bags are designed tap work with
safety belts, but don’t
replace them. Air bags are
designed to
work only in rn~der;ate to severe
crashes where the
front of your vehi
something.
They aren’t designed $8
in rollover9 mar, side OF Bow-speed frontal
crashes. Everyone
in YSW vehicle should weas a
safety belt properly -- whether or not there’s an
ais bag for that person.
-2