1997 Oldsmobile Aurora Owner's Manuals

@ What’s wrong with this?
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 retailer to
fix it.
A: The belt is twisted across the body.

-
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.
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Safety belts work for everyone, including pregnant
women. Like
all occupants, they are more likely to be
seriously injured if they don’t wear safety belts.
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.
1-18

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.
Right Front Passenger Position
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 way and
start again.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS) or air bag system.
Your Aurora 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:
r
F-
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 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
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.
1-19

A 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 air
bags. The driver should sit as
far back as possible
while still maintaining control of the vehicle.
A CAUTION:
I-
An inflating air bag can seriously injure small
children. Always secure children properly in your
vehicle.
To read how, see the part of this manual
called “Children” and the caution label on the
right front passenger’s safety belt.
AIR BAG
There is an air bag
readiness 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.
1-20

How the Air Bag System Works
Where are the air bags?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
I
The right front passenger’s air bag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.
1-21

If something is between an occupant and an air
bag, the bag may not inflate properly or it might
force the object into that person. The path of an
inflating
air bag must be kept clear. Don’t put
anything between an occupant and an
air bag, and
don’t attach or put anything
on the steering wheel
hub
or on or near any other air bag covering. When
should an air bag inflate?
An air bag is designed to inflate in a moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crash. The air bag will inflate
only if the impact speed is above the system’s designed
“threshold level.” If your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that doesn’t move or deform, the threshold level
is
about 8 to 11 mph (13 to 18 kmh). The threshold level
can vary, however, with specific vehicle design,
so that
it can be somewhat above or below this range.
If your
vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such
as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The
air bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side
impacts
or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
Inflation
is determined by the angle of the impact and
how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal or
near-frontal impacts.
1-22

What makes an air bag inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is
in a crash. The sensing
system triggers a release of gas from the inflator, which
inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related
hardware are all part of the air bag modules inside the
steering wheel and in the instrument panel in front of the
right front passenger.
How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel. Air bags supplement the protection
provided by safety belts.
Air bags distribute the force of
the impact more evenly over the occupant’s upper body,
stopping the occupant more gradually. But air bags
would not help you in many types of collisions,
including rollovers, rear impacts and side impacts,
primarily because
an occupant’s motion is not toward
those
air bags. Air bags should never be regarded as
anything more than a supplement to safety belts,
and then only
in moderate to severe frontal or
near-frontal collisions.
What will you see after an air bag inflates?
After an air bag inflates, it quickly deflates, so quickly
that some people may not even realize the air bag inflated. Some components of the air bag module in the
steering wheel hub for the driver’s
air bag, or the
instrument panel
for the right front passenger’s bag, will
be hot for
a short time. The parts of the bag that come
into contact with you may be warm, but not too hot to
touch. There will be some smoke and dust coming from
vents in the deflated
air bags. Air bag inflation doesn’t
prevent the driver from seeing or from being able to steer the vehicle, nor does it stop people from leaving
the vehicle.
When an air bag inflates, there is dust in the air.
This dust could cause breathing problems for
people with a history of asthma or other
breathing trouble. To avoid this, everyone in the
vehicle should get
out as soon as it is safe to do so.
If you have breathing problems but can’t get out
of the vehicle after an air bag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening a window or door.
1-23

In many crashes severe enough to inflate an air bag,
windshields are broken
by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may
also occur from the
right front passenger air bag.
Air bags are designed to inflate only once. After they
inflate, you’ll need some new parts for your air bag
system. If you don’t get them, the air bag system
won’t be there to help protect you in another crash.
A new system will include air bag modules and
possibly other parts. The service manual for your
vehicle covers the need
to replace other parts.
Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and
diagnostic module, which records information about
the
air bag system. The module records information
about
the readiness of the system, when the sensors are
activated and driver’s safety belt usage at deployment.
Let only qualified technicians work on your air bag
system, Improper service can mean that your air
bag system won’t work properly. See your retailer
for service.
NOTICE:
If you damage the covering for the driver’s or the
right front passenger’s air bag, the bag may not
work properly. You may have to replace the air
bag module
in the steering wheel or both the air
bag module and the instrument panel for the
right front passenger’s air bag.
Do not open or
break the air bag coverings.