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@ What’s wrong with this?
I
A CAUTION:
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.
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
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&.' What's wrong with this?
A: 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.
Always buckle your belt into the buckle
nearest you.
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Q: 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.
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Page 27 of 353
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Safety belts work for everyone, inclwling pregnant
women.
w 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, ad
the lap portion should be worn as low as possible, below
the rounding, throughout the pregnancy.
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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.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS) or
air bag system.
Your Oldsmobile 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:
~~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~. ~~~
~
~~
CAmONi
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.
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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
-- 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.
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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.
0
0
0
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.
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Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The po8sitions next to the windows have lap-shoulder
belts. Here's how
to wear one properly.
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