1998 CHEVROLET ASTRO Owners Manual

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 1 A CAUTION:
r
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.
1
To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
Your vehicle may have rear shoulder belt comfort
guides. This feature 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 seats.
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:
1-35

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 1. Remove the guide from its storage clip on the side of
the seatback.
2. Slide the guide under and past the belt. The elastic
cord must be under the belt. Then, place the guide
over the belt, and insert the two edges
of the belt into
the slots
of the guide.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine ‘I
3. Be sure that the belt is not twisted and it lies flat.
The elastic cord must be under the belt and
the
guide on top.
4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described in “Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions-
earlier in this section. Make sure that the shoulder
belt crosses the shoulder.
To remove and store the comfort guides, squeeze the
belt edges together
so that you can take them out from
the guides. Slide the guide onto the storage clip.
1-37

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Center Passenger Position
(Bench Seat)
Lap Belt
If your vehicle has rear bench seats, someone can sit in
the center positions.
I
When you sit in a center seating position, you have a lap
safety belt, which has no retractor.
To make the belt
longer, tilt the latch plate and pull
it along the belt.

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Buckle, position and release it the same way as the lap
part
of a lap-shoulder belt. If the belt isn’t long enough,
I see “Safety Belt Extender” at the end of this section.
Make sure the release button
on the buckle is positioned
so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly
if
you ever had to.
Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
1 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.
To make the belt shorter, pull its free end as shown until
the belt is snug.
1-39

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Smaller Children and Babies
(Except Cargo Vans)
A CAUTION:
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 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
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.
--
Smaller children and baL-3 should always be
restrained in a child or infant restraint. The
CAUTION: (Continued)
1
CAUTION: (Continued)
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.
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.
1-40

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 1 A CAUTION:
Never hold a baby in your arms while riding in a
vehicle.
A baby doesn’t weigh much -- until a
crash. During
a crash a baby will become so
heavy you can’t hold it. For example, in a crash
CAUTION: (Continued) CAUTION: (Continued)
at only
25 mph (40 km/h), a 12-1b. (5.5 kg) baby
will suddenly become a 240-1b.
(110 kg) force on
your arms. The baby would be almost impossible
to hold.
Secure the baby in an infant restraint.
1-41

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Smaller Children and Babies (Cargo Vans)
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
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
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.
--
I A CAUTION:
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. Smaller children
and babies should always be restrained in a child
restraint. However, infants, who should be
restrained in a rear-facing child restraint, cannot
ride safely in this vehicle. The instructions for the
restraint will say whether
it is the right type and
size for your child.
If a forward-facing child
restraint is suitable for your child, be sure the
child is always properly restrained while riding in
this vehicle.