1998 CHEVROLET ASTRO belt

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,Q: What's wrong with this?
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A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
A CAUTION:
You can be seriously injul 1 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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Q.' What's wrong with this?
A: The belt is over an armrest.
A CAUTION:
You can be seriously injured if your belt goes
over an armrest like this. The belt would be much
too high. In a crash, you can slide under the belt.
The belt force would then be applied at the
abdomen, not at the pelvic bones, and that could
cause serious or fatal injuries. Be sure the belt
goes under the armrests.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times.
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I A CAUTION:
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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine @' 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 dealer to
fix it.
A: The belt is twisted across the body.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
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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 lap 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 System
This part explains the air bag system.
Your vehicle has two air bags
-- one air bag for the
driver and another air bag for the passenger.
The air bags in your vehicle may be “Next Generation”
reduced-force frontal air bags.
If your vehicle has a label
on the driver’s side window, then your vehicle has
reduced-force frontal air bags. If your vehicle doesn’t
have a label, then the air bags in your vehicle aren’t
reduced-force. Reduced-force frontal
air bags are designed to help reduce
the risk of injury
from the force of an inflating air bag. But
even these
air bags must inflate very quickly if they are to
do their job and comply with federal regulations.
Here are the most important things to know about the air
bag system:
‘ 3 CAUTION:
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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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1 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.
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A CAUTION:
Children who are up against, or very close to, an
air bag when
it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. This is true even if your vehicle has
reduced-force 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
CAUTION: (Continued)
I CAUTION: (Continued)
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.
There is an air bag
readiness light on the
instrument panel, which
BAG
shows AIRBAG.
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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
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/A CAUTION:
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.
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.
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