1998 CHEVROLET VENTURE Owners Manual

@ What’s wrong with this?
1 CAU dON:
1
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.
I
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly
as much protection this way.
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@ What's wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
A CAT'TION:
- - -
You can be seriously injured 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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@ What's wrong with this? 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.
A: The belt is over an armrest.
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&: What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be
worn over the shoulder at all times.
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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@ 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.
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To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
The belt should go back out of the way.
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.
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.
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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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 four air bags -- a “Next Generation”
reduced-force frontal
air bag for the driver, another “Next
Generation” reduced-force
frontal air bag for the right front
passenger, a side impact
air bag for the driver, and
another side impact
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 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 -ir
bag systems:
CAUTION:
You can be severely injd 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.
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, rem, 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
CAUTION: (Continued)
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bags for the drLa’ 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.
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 inflation 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. 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
lap-shoulder belts offer the best protection for
adults and older children, 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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