1998 GMC SIERRA Owners Manual

4. Pull the rest of the lap belt all the way out of the
retractor to set the
lock.
5. To tighten the belt, feed the lap belt back into the
retractor
while you push down on the child restraint.
You may find it helpful to use your knee to push
down on the child restraint as you tighten the belt.
6. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure
it is secure.
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To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt and let it
go back all the way. The safety belt
will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult
or larger child passenger.
Securing a Child Restraint in the Right
Front Seat Position (Except Crew Cab)
If your vehicle has air bags, there is a switch on the
instrument panel that you can use to
turn off the right
front passenger’s air bag. But use this switch only when
you want to secure a rear-facing child restraint at the
right front passenger’s position.
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’ A CAUTION:
-
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s air bag inflates, even though your
vehicle has reduced-force frontal
air bags. This is
because the back of the rear-facing child
i restraint would be very close to the inflating air
bag. Be sure to turn off the air bag before using a
rear-facing child restraint in the right front seat
position.
If a forward-facing child restraint is
suitable for your child, always move the
passenger seat as
far back as it will go.
To turn off the right front passenger’s air bag, insert
your ignition key into the switch, push
in, and move the
switch to
AIR BAG OFF.
The AIR BAG OFF light will come on to let you know
that the right front passenger’s air bag is off. The right
front passenger’s air bag
will remain off until you turn it
back on again, and the AIR BAG OFF light will stay on
to remind you that the air bag is off.
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If the air bag readiness light ever comes on when
you have turned
off the air bag, it means that
something may be wrong with the air bag system.
The right front passenger’s air bag could inflate
even though the switch is off.
If this ever
happens, don’t secure a rear-facing child
restraint in your vehicle until you have your
vehicle serviced.
You’ll be using
the lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part
about
the top strap if the child restraint has one. Be sure
to follow
the instructions that came with the child
restraint. Secure the child in the child restraint when and
as the instructions say.
1. If your vehicle has air bags and you are using a
rear-facing child restraint in this seat, make sure the
air bag
is turned off. If your child restraint is
forward-fixing, always move the seat as far back as
it will go before securing it in this seat. (See “Seats”
in the Index.)
2. Put the restraint on the seat.
3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and shoulder
portions of
the vehicle’s safety belt through or
around the restraint. The. child restraint instructions
will show
you how.
If the shoulder belt goes in front of the child’s face or
neck, put
it behind the child restraint.
4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the release button is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly
if you ever had to.
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5. Pull the rest of the lap belt all the way out of the
retractor to set the lock. 6. To tighten the belt, feed the lap belt back into the
retractor while you push down on the child restraint.
If you’re using a forward-facing child restraint, you
may find it helpful to use your knee to push down on
the child restraint as
you tighten the belt.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
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~ ~~ ~~~~ ~ ~
~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~
~ ~. ,
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety belt
will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult
or larger child passenger.
If your vehicle has air bags, turn on the right front
passenger’s air bag when you remove the rear-facing
child restraint.
To turn the air bag on again, insert your ignition key into the
switch, push in, and move the switch to the
ON position.
If the right front passenger’s air bag is turned
off, the person sitting there won’t have the extra
protection of an
air bag. In a crash, the air bag
wouldn’t be able to inflate and help protect the
person sitting there. Make sure the air bag is
turned on unless you are using
a rear-facing child
restraint in the right front seat position.
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Larger Children
Children who have outgrown child restraints should wear the vehicle’s safety belts.
If you have the choice, a child should sit next to a
window so the child can wear a lap-shoulder belt and
get the additional restraint
a shoulder belt can provide. Accident statistics show that
children are safer if they
are restrained
in the rear seat. But they need to use the
safety belts properly.
Children who aren’t buckled up can be thrown out in
a crash.
Children who aren’t buckled up can strike other
people who are.
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Never do this.
Here two children are wearing the same belt. The
belt can’t properly spread the impact forces. In
a
crash, the two children can be crushed together
and seriously injured.
A belt must be used by
only one person at a time.
What
if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt,
but the child is
so small that the shoulder belt is
very close to the child’s face
or neck?
A: Move the child toward the center of the vehicle, but
be sure that the shoulder belt
still is on the child’s
shoulder,
so that in a crash the child’s upper body
would have the restraint that belts provide.
If the
child
is sitting in a rear seat outside position, see
“Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides”
in the Index.
If the child is so small that the shoulder belt is still
very close to the child’s face or neck, you might
want to place
the child in a seat that has a lap belt,
if your vehicle has one.
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