1998 CHEVROLET ASTRO Owners Manual

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine The lap part of the belt should be worn low and snug on
the hips, just touching the thighs. In a crash, this applies
force to the strong pelvic bones. And you'd be less likely
to slide under the lap belt. If you slid under it, the belt
would apply force at your abdomen. This could cause
serious or even fatal injuries. The shoulder belt should go
over the shoulder and across the chest. These parts of the
body are best able
to take belt restraining forces.
The safety belt locks
if there's a sudden stop or a crash.
Shoulder Belt Height Ad.juster
Before you begin to drive, move the shoulder belt
adjuster to the height that is right for
you.
"
To move it down, push in at the top of the arrows and
move the height adjuster
to the desired position. You can
move the adjuster up just by pushing up on the shoulder
belt guide. After
you move the adjuster to where you
want it, try to move it down without pushing in to make
sure
it has locked into position.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Adjust the height so that the shoulder portion of the
belt is centered
on your shoulder. The belt should be
away
from your face and neck, but not falling off
your shoulder.
What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine t
I
'. 1
,Q: What's wrong with this?
I I I I
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.
I
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:
-
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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