1997 CHEVROLET CAMARO Owners Manual

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine In most states and Canadian provinces, the law says to
wear safety belts. Here’s why:
They work.
It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area,
inside or outside of a vehicle. In
a collision,
people riding in these areas are more likely to be
seriously injured or killed.
Do not allow people
to ride in any area of your vehicle that is not
equipped with seats and safety belts. Be sure
everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using
a
safety belt properly.
Your vehicle has a light that
comes on as a reminder to
buckle up. (See “Safety
Belt Reminder Light” in
the Index.) 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!
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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. Put someone
on
it.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Get it up to speed. Then stop the vehicle. The rider
doesn't stop. The
person keeps going until stopped
by something.
In
a real vehicle, it could be the windshield ...
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine or the instrument panel ... or the safety belts!
With safety belts,
you slow down as the vehicle does.
You get more time to stop. You stop over more distance,
and your strongest bones take the forces. That's why
safety belts make such good sense.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Here Are Questions Many People Ask
About Safety Belts
-- and the Answers
Q: Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if I’m wearing a safety belt?
A: You could be -- whether you’re wearing a safety
belt or not. But you can unbuckle a safety belt,
even
if you’re upside down. And your chance of
being conscious during and after an accident, so
you can unbuckle and get out, is much greater if
you are belted.
&: If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have to
wear safety belts?
&: If I’m a good driver, and I never drive far from
home, why should
I wear safety belts?
A: You may be an excellent driver, but if you’re in an
accident
-- even one that isn’t your fault -- you and
your passengers can be hurt. Being a good driver
doesn’t protect
you from things beyond your
control, such as bad drivers.
Most accidents occur within
25 miles (40 km) of
home. And the greatest number of serious injuries
and deaths occur at speeds of less than
40 mph
(65 kmh).
Safety belts are for everyone.
A: Air bags are in many vehicles today and will
be in most of them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems only;
so they work with
safety belts -- not instead of them. Every air bag
system ever offered for sale has required
the use of
safety belts. Even if you’re in a vehicle that has air
bags,
you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That’s true
not only in frontal collisions,
but especially
in side and other collisions.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Adults
This part is only for people of adult size.
Be aware that there are special things to
know about safety
belts and children. And there are different rules for smaller
children and babies.
If a child will be riding in your
Chevrolet,
see the part of this manual called “Children.”
Follow those rules for everyone’s protection.
First, you’ll want
to know which restraint systems your
vehicle has.
We’ll start with the driver position.
Driver Position
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The driver has a lap-shoulder belt. Here’s how to wear
it properly.
1. Close and lock the door.
2. Adjust the seat (to see how, see “Seats” in the Index)
so you can sit up straight.
This part describes the driver’s restraint system.
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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.
On convertible models, the shoulder belt may lock if
you pull the belt across you very quickly. If this
happens, let the belt
go back slightly to unlock it.
Then pull the belt across you more slowly.
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks. If
the belt stops before it reaches the buckle, tilt
the
latch plate and keep pulling until you can buckle
the belt.
Pull 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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 5. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end
of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder belt. 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.
On convertible models, the safety belt also locks
if you
pull the belt very quickly out
of the retractor.
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