1997 PONTIAC GRAND AM child restraint

Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
1-2 Seats and Seat Controls
1-7 Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
1 - 12 Here Are Questions Many People Ask About
1-13 How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
1-20 Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Safety Belts
-- and
the Answers
1-13 Driver Position
1-21 Right Front Passenger Position
1-21 Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
1-27 Rear Seat Passengers
Here
you’ll find information about the seats in your Pontiac and how to use your safety belts properly. You can also
learn about some things you should
not do with air bags and safety belts.
1-3
1
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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
1-1

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 Pontiac, 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
This part describes the driver’s restraint system.
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.
3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
Don’t
let it get twisted.
1-13

Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children and Small Adults
Rear shoulder belt comfort guides will provide added
safety belt comfort for children who have outgrown
child restraints and for small adults. When installed on a
shoulder belt, the comfort guide pulls the belt away
from the neck and head.
There is one guide for each outside passenger position in
the rear seat.
To provide added safety belt comfort for
children who have outgrown child restraints and for
smaller adults, the comfort guides may be installed on
the shoulder belts. Here's how to install
a comfort guide
and use the safety belt:
1. Pull the elastic cord out from between the edge of
the seatback and the interior body to remove the
guide from its storage clip.
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Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
infants and all children smaller than adult
size. In fact,
the law in every state in the United States and in every
Canadian province says children up
to some age must be
restrained while in a vehicle.
Smaller Children and Babies
I A CAUTION:
Smaller children and babies should always be
restrained in
a child or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint will say whether it is
the right type and size for your child.
A very
young child’s hip bones are
so small that a
regular belt might not stay low on the hips, as it
should. Instead, the belt will likely be over the
child’s abdomen. In
a crash, the belt would apply
force right on the child’s abdomen, which could
cause serious or fatal injuries.
So, be sure that
any child small enough for one is always properly
restrained in
a child or infant restraint.
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Child Restraints
Be sure the child restraint is designed to be used in a
vehicle.
If it is, it will have a label saying that it meets
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Then follow the instructions for the restraint.
You may
find these instructions on the restraint itself or in a
booklet,
or both. These restraints use the belt system in
your vehicle, but the child also has to be secured within
the restraint to help reduce the chance of personal injury.
The instructions that come with the infant or child
restraint will show you how
to do that,
Where to Put the Restraint
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat. We at
General Motors therefore recommend that you put your
child restraint in the rear seat.
Never put a rear-facing
child restraint in the front passenger seat. Here’s why:
A CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured if the right front passenger’s air
bag inflates. This is because the back of
a
rear-facing child restraint would’be very close to
the inflating air bag. Always secure
a rear-facing
child restraint in the rear seat.
You may, however, secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front seat, Before you secure
a forward-facing child restraint, always move the
front passenger seat as
far back as it will go. Or,
secure the child restraint in the rear seat.
Wherever you install it, be sure to secure the child
restraint properly.
Keep in mind that an unsecured child restraint can move
around in a collision or sudden stop and injure people in
the vehicle. Be sure to properly secure any child
restraint in your vehicle
-- even when no child is in it.
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Top Strap If your child restraint has a top strap, it should be
anchored. If you need to have an anchor installed, you
can ask your Pontiac dealer to put it in for you.
If you
want to install an anchor yourself, your dealer can tell
you how to do it.
Canadian
law requires that child restraints have a top
strap, and that the strap
be anchored.
If your child restraint has a top strap, your dealer can
obtain a
kit with anchor hardware and installation
instructions specifically designed for this vehicle. The
dealer can then install the anchor for you. In Canada,
this work will be done free of charge.
Or, you may
install the anchor yourself using the instructions
provided
in the kit.
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Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about the top strap if the child restraint has one.
1. Put the restraint on the seat. Follow the instructions
for the child restraint.
2. Secure the child in the child restraint as the
instructions say.
3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder
portions
of the vehicle’s safety belt through or
around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show you how. Tilt the latch plate
to adjust the belt if needed.
If the shoulder belt goes in front of the child’s face or
neck, put it behind the child restraint.
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4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is
positioned
so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly
if you ever had to.
5. To tighten the belt, pull up on the shoulder belt while
you push down on the child restraint.
6. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it
is secure.
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt
and let it go back all the way. The safety belt
will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult
or larger child passenger.
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