1998 CHEVROLET PRIZM Owners Manual

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine &: What’s wrong with this?
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A: The belt is twisted across the body.
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.
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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 Positi(- -I
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”
reduced-force frontal air bag for
the driver and another
“Next Generation” reduced-force frontal air bag for the
right front passenger. Reduced-force frontal air bags are designed
to help reduce the risk of injury from the force
of an inflating frontal air bag. But even these air bags
must inflate
very quickly if they are to do their job and
comply with federal regulations. 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
SRS
- SIDE AIRBAG on a label on the side of the
driver’s and right front passenger’s seat closest to
the door.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Here are the most important things to know about the air
bag systems:
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
-- even reduced-force air
bags
-- are designed to work with safety belts but
don’t replace them.
CAUTION: (Continued) Reduced-force
frontal air bags
for the driver and
right front passenger 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. And, for unrestrained occupants,
reduced-force frontal air bags may provide less
protection in frontal crashes than more forceful
air bags have provided in the past. The side
impact air bags
for the driver and right front
passenger are designed to inflate only in
moderate to severe crashes where something hits
the side
of your vehicle. They aren’t designed to
inflate in frontal, in rollover or in rear 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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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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 reduced-force
frontal
air bags. Safety belts help keep you in position
for
air bag idation before and during a crash.
Always
wear your safety belt, even with
reduced-force 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.
’ A CAU-ION:
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 though your vehicle
has
reduced-force frontal air bags. Air bags plus
CAUTION: (Continued)
I
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.
AIR
BAG
There is an air bag
readiness light on
the instrument
panel, which shows
AIR BAG.
The system checks the air bag electrical system for
malfunctions.
The lights tell 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 the Air Bag Systems Work
Where are the air bags?
The driver’s frontal air bag is in the middle of the
steering wheel. The
right front passenger’s frontal air bag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.
The driver’s side impact air bag is in the side
of the
driver’s seatback closest to the
door.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine The right front passenger’s side impact air bag is in the
side
of the passenger’s seatback closest to the door.
If something is between an occupant and an air
bag, the bag might not inflate properly
or it
might force the object into that person. The path
of an inflating air bag must be kept clear. Don’t
put anything between an occupant and an air
bag, and don’t attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any other air
bag covering and don’t let seat covers block the
inflation path
of a side impact air bag.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine When should an air bag inflate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal air bags
are designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal or
near-frontal crashes. The frontal air bags are designed to
inflate only if the impact speed is above the system’s
designed “threshold level.”
If your vehicle goes straight
into a wall that doesn’t move
or deform, the threshold
level is about
1 1 to 15 mph (1 8 to 24 km/h). The
threshold level can vary, however, with specific vehicle
design,
so that it can be somewhat above or below this
range. If your vehicle strikes something that will move
or deform, such as a parked car, the threshold level will
be higher. The driver’s and right front passenger’s
frontal air bags are not designed to inflate in rollovers,
side impacts, or rear impacts, because inflation would
not help the occupant.
The driver’s and right front passenger’s side impact air
bags are designed to inflate in moderate to severe side
crashes involving a front door.
A side impact air bag
will inflate if the crash severity is above the system’s
designed “threshold level.’’ The threshold level can vary
with specific vehicle design. Side impact air bags are
not
designed to inflate in frontal or near-frontal impacts,
rollovers or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
A side impact air bag will only
deploy
on the side of the vehicle that is struck. It is
possible that, in a crash involving the front of
your vehicle, only one of the two frontal air bags in
your vehicle will deploy. This
is rare, but it can
happen in a crash just severe enough to make a
frontal air bag inflate.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
air bag should have inflated simply because of the
damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair
costs were. For frontal air bags, inflation is determined
by the angle of the impact and how quickly the vehicle
slows down in frontal and near-frontal impacts. For
side impact air bags, inflation is determined by the
location of the impact and how quickly the side of the
vehicle deforms.
What makes an air bag inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. For both
frontal and side impact air bags, the sensing system
triggers a release of gas from the inflator, which inflates
the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related hardware
are all part
of the air bag modules inside the steering
wheel, instrument panel and the side of the front
seatbacks closest to the door.
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