1998 CADILLAC CATERA child restraint

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Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Here you’ll find information about the seats in your vehicle and how to use your safety belts proper\
ly. You can also
learn about some things you should
not do with air bags and safety belts.
1-2 Seats and Seat Controls 1-
13 Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
1-18 Here
are Questions Many People Ask About
1- 19 How
to Wear Safety Belts Properly
1-19 Driver Position
1-26 Safety Belt
Use During Pregnancy
1-27 Right Front Passenger Position
Safety Belts
-- and
the Answers 1-27
1-36
1-40 1-43
1-53 1-56
1-56
1-57 Air Bag
Systems
Rear Seat Passengers
Children
Child Restraints
Larger Children Safety Belt Extender
Checking Your Restraint Systems
Replacing Restraint System
Parts After
a Crash

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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 vehicle, 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.
A
3.
4.
Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let it get twisted.
The shoulder belt may lock if you pull the belt across
you very quickly. If this happens, let the belt
go back
slightly to unlock it. Then pull the belt across you
more slowly.
Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
1-19

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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
To learn how to wear the right front passenger’s
safety belt properly, see “Driver Position” earlier in
this section.
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same
way as the driver’s safety belt
-- except for one thing.
If you ever pull the shoulder portion of the belt out all
the way,
you will engage the child restraint locking
feature.
If this happens, just let the belt go back all
the way and start again.
Air Bag Systems
This part explains the frontal and side impact air
bag systems.
Your vehicle has air bags
-- a “Next Generation” frontal
air bag for the driver and another “Next Generation”
reduced-force frontal air bag for the right front
passenger. Your vehicle may also have side impact air
bags
-- a side impact air bag for the driver and another
side impact air bag for the right front passenger.
If your vehicle has
side impact
air bags, it
will say AIR BAG on
the air bag covering on
the side of the driver’s
and right front
passenger’s seatback closest to the door.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine I A CAUTION:
Both frontal and side impact 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.
This is true even with Next
Generation frontal air bags. Safety belts help keep
you
in position for air bag inflation before and
during a crash. Always
wear your safety belt, even
with Next Generation frontal
air bags. The driver
should sit
as far back as possible while still
maintaining control of the vehicle. Front occupants
should not lean on or sleep against the door.
I
A C WTION:
I
Children who are up against, or very close to, any
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. This is true even though your vehicle
has Next Generation frontal air bags. Air bags
plus lap-shoulder belts offer the best protection
for adults, but not for young children and
infants. Neither the vehicle’s safety belt system
nor its air bag system is designed for them.
Young children and infants need the protection
that
a child restraint system can provide. Always
secure children properly in your vehicle.
To read
how, see the part of this manual called
“Children” and see the caution labels on the
sunvisors and the right front passenger’s
safety belt.

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Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
infants and all children smaller than adult size. Neither
the distance traveled nor the age and size of the traveler
changes the need, for everyone, to use safety restraints.
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
A CAUTION:
--- I
Children who are up against, or very close to, any
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. This is true even though your vehicle
has Next Generation frontal air bags. Air bags
plus lap-shoulder belts offer the best protection
for adults, but not for young children and
infants. Neither the vehicle’s safety belt system
nor its air bag system is designed for them.
Young children and infants need the protection
that
a child restraint system can provide. Always
secure children properly in your vehicle.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine A CAUTION:
I
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
inf& rwaink
Infants need complete support, including support for
the head and neck. This
is necessary because an
infant’s neck is weak and its head weighs
so much
compared with the rest of its body. In a crash, an infant
in a rear-facing restraint settles into the restraint, so the
crash forces can be distributed across the strongest part
of the infant’s body, the back and shoulders.
A baby
should be secured in an appropriate infant restraint.
This is
so important that many hospitals today won’t
release a newborn infant to its parents unless there is
an infant restraint available for the baby’s first trip in
a motor vehicle.

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Every time infants and young children ride in
vehicles, they should have protection provided by
appropriate restraints.
@ What are the different types of add-on
child restraints?
A: Add-on child restraints are available in four
basic types. When selecting a child restraint, take
into consideration not only the child’s weight and
size, but also whether or not the restraint will be
compatible with the motor vehicle in which it
will be used.
An infant car bed (A) is a special bed made for
use in a motor vehicle. It’s an infant restraint
system designed to restrain
or position a child on
a continuous flat surface. With an infant car bed,
make sure that the infant’s head rests toward the
center of the vehicle.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine A forward-facing child restraint (C-E) positions a
child upright to face forward in the vehicle. These
forward-facing restraints are designed to help protect
children who are
from 20 to 40 lbs. (9 to 18 kg) and
about
26 to 40 inches (66 to 102 cm) in height, or up
to around four years of age. One type, a convertible
restraint, is designed
to be used either as a rear-facing
infant seat or
a forward-facing child seat.