1998 GMC SIERRA Owners Manual

1 A CAUTION:
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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.
To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
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Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions (Crew Cab)
If you have an Extended Cab, see “Rear Seat
Outside Passenger Positions (Extended Cab)” earlier
in this section.
Lap-Shoulder Belt (Crew Cab)
The positions next to the windows have lap-shoulder
belts. Here’s how to wear one properly.
1. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let
it get twisted.
2. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks. pull
up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure. When
the lap belt is pulled out all the way, it will lock.
If it
does, let it go back all the way and
start again.
If the belt is not long enough, see “Safety Belt
Extender” at the end
of this section.
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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.
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The lap part of the belt should be worn low and snug on
the hips, just touching the thighs.
In a crash, this applies
force to the strong pelvic bones. And you’d be less likely
to slide under the lap belt. If you slid under it, the
belt would apply force at your abdomen. This could
cause serious or even fatal injuries. The shoulder belt
should go over the shoulder and across the chest.
These parts of the body are best able to take belt
restraining forces.
The safety belt locks only if there’s a sudden stop or
a crash.
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.
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To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
If your vehicle has a rear seat, your vehicle may have
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 seat. 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. Remove the guide from its storage clip on the side of
the seatback.
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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.
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.
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4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described in “Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions
(Extended Cab)” or “Rear Seat Outside Passenger
Positions (Crew Cab)” 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.
Make sure
you remove the comfort guide from the belt
before
you fold a rear seat down or use an easy-entry
seat, if your vehicle has one.
Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
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.
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Smaller Children and Babies
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 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. 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
should. Instead, the belt will likely be over the
it
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. I
Smaller children and babies should always be
restrained in a child or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint will say whether it is
CAUTION: (Continued)
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at only 25 mph (40 km/h), a 12-1b. (5.5 kg) baby
will suddenly become a 240-lb.
(110 kg) force on
your arms. The baby would be almost impossible
to hold.
Secure the baby in an infant restraint.
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)
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