1997 GMC JIMMY Owner's Manual

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.
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 b~~ckle
is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly
if you ever had to.
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 a crash.
1-15

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 seriously 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.
1-16

&.' What's wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
A CA"TL3N:
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.
Always buckle your belt into the buckle
nearest you.
1-17

Q.’ What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the ann. 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 would move too far forward, which would
increase the chance
of head and neck injury.
Also, the belt would apply too much force to the
ribs, which aren’t as strong
as shoulder bones.
You could also severely injure internal organs
like your liver or spleen.
1-1s

Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body.
You 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.
1-19

Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) System
This part explains the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) system or air bag system.
Your vehicle has
an air bag for the driver.
Here are the most important things to
know about the
air bag system:
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.
’ You can be severely injured or killed in a crash if
you aren’t wearing your safety belt
-- even if you
have an
air bag. Wearing your safety belt during
a crash helps reduce your chance of hitting things
inside the vehicle or being ejected from it. Air
bags are “supplemental restraints” to the safety belts.
All air bags are designed to work with
safety belts, but don’t replace them. Air bags are
designed to
work only in moderate to severe
crashes where the front of your vehicle hits
something. They aren’t designed to inflate at all
I
CAUTION: (Continued)
1-20

in rollover, rear, side or low-speed frontal crashes.
Everyone in your vehicle should wear a safety belt
properly
-- whether or not there’s an air bag for
that person.
I
/! CAUTION:
Air bags inflate with great force, faster than the
blink
of an eye. If you’re too close to an inflating
air bag, it could seriously injure you. Safety belts
help keep you
in position before and during a
crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with an
air bag, and sit as far back as you can while still
maintaining control of your vehicle.
I There is an air bag readiness
AIR
BAG
light on the instrument
panel, which shows
AIR BAG.
The system checks the air bag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you
if there is an electrical
problem. See ”Air Bag Readiness Light”
in the Index
for more information.
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