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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 0 The 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier Owner’s Manual
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Seats and Restraint Systems
This section tells you how to use your seats and safety belts properly. It also explains the “SRS” system.
Features and Controls
This section explains how to start and operate your Chevrolet.
Comfort Controls and Audio Systems
This section tells you how to adjust the ventilation and comfo\
rt controls and how to operate your audio system.
Your Driving and the Road
Here you’ll find helpful information and tips about the road\
and how to drive under different conditions.
Problems on the Road
This section tells what to do if you have a problem while driving, such as a flat tire or overheat\
ed engine, etc.
Service and Appearance Care
Here the manual tells you how to keep your Chevrolet running properly and looking good.
Maintenance Schedule
This section tells you when to perform vehicle maintenance and \
what fluids and lubricants to use.
Customer Assistance Information
This section tells you how to contact Chevrolet for assistance \
and how to get service and owner publications.
It also gives you information on “Reporting Safety Defects” on page
8- 10.
Index
Here’s an alphabetical listing of almost every subject in this manual. You can use it to quickly find
something you want to read.
i
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Vehicle Symbols
These are some of the symbols you may find on your vehicle.
For example,
these symbols
are used on an
original battery:
POSSIBLE A
CAUTION
INJURY
PROTECT EYES
BY
SHIELDING Q
CAUSTIC
BURNS AVOID
SPARKS
OR
FLAMES
SPARK
OR ,\I/,
COULD FLAME
EXPLODE BATTERY
These symbols are important
for you
and
your passengers
whenever your
vehicle
is
driven:
n
UNLOCK la
FASTEN
SEAT
BELTS
POWER
WINDOW
0p
AIR BAG p
These symbols
have to do with
your lamps:
SIGNALS e
TURN
FOG LAMPS # 0
These symbols are
on some of
your controls:
WINDSHIELD
DEFROSTER
WINDOW
DEFOGGER
These symbols are used
on
warning and
indicator lights:
ENGINE k
COOLANT - th
TEMP -
CHARGING I-1
BATTERY
SYSTEM
'
BRAKE (a)
R
COOLANT
ENGINE OIL
e,
PRESSURE
ANTI-LOCK
(e)
BRAKES
Here are some
other symbols
you may see:
FUSE
t
LIGHTER
HORN
)a(
SPEAKER
b
FUEL p3
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Here you’ll find information about the seats in your Chevrolet and how to use your safety belts properly. You can also
learn about some things you should nut do with air bags and safety belts.
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1-28 Seats
and Seat Controls
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
Here Are Questions Many People Ask About
Safety Belts
-- and the Answers
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Driver Position
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Right Front Passenger Position
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
Rear Seat Passengers 1-3 1
1-33 1-35
1-37
1-45
1-48
1-48 1-48 Rear Safety
Belt Comfort Guides for Children
and Small Adults
Center Passenger Position
Children
Child Restraints
Larger Children Safety Belt Extender
Checking Your Restraint Systems
Replacing Restraint System Parts After
a Crash
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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. Then sit well
back
in the seat and wear your safety belt properly.
Head Restraints
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 seatback folds
forward to let people get
into the back seat.
To fold a front seatback forward, lift the latch located on
the lower back side of the seatback. Then the seat will
fold forward.
When you return the seatback to its original position,
make sure the seatback is locked. The latch must be
down for the seat to work properly.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine To close the seat, push the seatback up to its
original position.
Check to ensure the seatback is in its original position
and securely latched by pulling forward
on the top
of the seatback. Move any obstructions in the
trunk compartment.
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
This part of the manual tells you how to use safety belts
properly.
It also tells you some things you should not do
with safety belts.
And it explains the Supplemental Restraint System (SRS),
or
air bag system.
I A CAUTION:
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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.) 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.
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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
&: 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 beltec.
@ If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have to
wear safety belts?
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.
@’ 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 km/h).
Safety belts are for everyone.