1998 GMC ENVOY Owners Manual

@ What’s wrong with this?
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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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.
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
slarn 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.
Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) System
This part explains the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
(SIR) system or air bag system.
Your vehicle has “Next Generation” reduced-force
frontal air bags
-- one air bag for the driver and another
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.
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Here are the most important things to know about the air
bag system:
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. 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. And, for unrestrained occupants,
reduced-force air bags may provide less protection
in frontal crashes than more forceful
air bags have
provided in the past. 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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Air bags i ate 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 before and during
a crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with
reduced-force air bags. The driver should sit as
far back
as possible while still maintaining
control of the vehicle.
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r-
Children who ar ~p 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, 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.
There is an air bag readiness
light
on the instrument
panel, which shows the air
bag symbol.
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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How the Air Bag System Works
Where are the air bags?
The driver’s air bag is in the middle of the
steering wheel. The
right front passenger’s air bag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.
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When should an air bag inflate?
I
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.
An air bag is designed to inflate in a moderate to severe
frontal or near-frontal crash. The air bag will 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
14 to 18 mph (23 to 29 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
air bag is not designed
to inflate in rollovers, side
impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
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.
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and
how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal or
near-frontal impacts.
The air bag system
is designed to work properly under a
wide range of conditions, including off-road usage.
Observe safe driving speeds, especially on rough terrain.
As always, wear your safety belt. See “Off-Road
Driving” in
the Index for more tips on off-road driving.
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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. 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 and in the instrument panel in front
of the
right front passenger.
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.
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.
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