1998 Oldsmobile Aurora Owner's Manuals

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 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
Rear shoulder belt comfort guides 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. Pull the elastic cord out from between the edge of
the seatback and the interior body to remove the
guide
from its storage clip.
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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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,

To remove and store the comfort guides, squeeze
the belt edges together
so that you can take them out
from the guides. Pull the guide upward to expose its
storage clip, and then slide the guide onto the clip.
Rotate the guide and clip inward and in between the
seatback and the interior body, leaving only the loop
of elastic cord exposed.
Center Passenger Position
4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described in “Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions”
earlier in this section. Make sure that the shoulder
belt crosses the shoulder.
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Lap Belt
1
When you sit in the center seating position, you have a
lap safety belt, which has no retractor.
To make the belt
longer, tilt the latch plate and pull it along the belt.
To make the belt shorter, pull its free end as shown until
the belt is snug.
Buckle, position and release it the same way as the lap
part
of a lap-shoulder belt. If the belt isn’t long enough,
see “Safety Belt Extender” at the end
of this section.
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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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.
Smaller Children and Babies
TTTi3N:
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.
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A -AUTION:
Smaller children and babies should always be
restrained in a child or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint will say whether
it is 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
it
should. Instead, the belt will likely be over the
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 infaIit’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.
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A CAUTION:
-
I
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
I
CAUTION: (Continued) at
only
25 mph (40 km/h), a 12-lb. (5.5 kg) baby
will suddenly become
a 2404b. (110 kg) force on
your arms. The baby would be almost impossible
to hold.
Secure the baby
in an infant restraint.
I
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