1998 OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE Owners Manual

A CAUT~ON:
A seat that isn’t locked into place properly can
move around
in a collision or sudden stop. People
in the vehicle could be injured.
Be sure to lock
the seat into place properly when installing it.
6. Lift the seatback recliner lever or pull the nylon strap
on the back
of the seat and raise the seatback until it
locks upright.
7. Push and pull on the seatback to check that it is
locked in place.
A CAUTION:
If the seatback isn’t locked, it could move
forward in a sudden stop or crash. That could
cause injury to the person sitting there. Always
press rearward on the seatback to be sure it
is locked.
Captain’s Chairs
The captain’s chairs adjust like the manual front
passenger seats.
The seatback can be
reclined or raised by turning
the knob on the inboard side
of the seat.
It is easier to
raise
or lower the seatback
if you lean forward and take
the weight
off the seatback.
The armrests can
be lowered or raised for entering or
exiting the vehicle.
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Removing the Captain’s Chairs
1. Pull the nylon strap behind the chair to release the
rear hooks
from the floor pins.
2. The seat can then be lifted off the front floor pins
and removed from the vehicle,
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Replacing the Captain’s Chairs
The left chair goes in the A and C sets of floor pins.
The right chair goes in the
D and F sets of floor pins.
1. Hook the front latches over the front floor pins.
2. Push the rear of the seat down to lock the rear latches
onto the rear set
of floor pins.
3. Push and pull on the seat to be sure it is
properly attached.
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Safety BeT ;: They’re for Everyone
This part of the manual tells you how to use safety belts
properly. It also tells
you some things you should not do
with safety belts.
And it explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS),
or air bag system.
a CAUTION:
Don’t let anyone ride where he or she can’t wear
a safety belt properly. If you are in a crash and
you’re not wearing a safety belt, your injuries
can be much worse.
You can hit things inside the
vehicle or be ejected from it.
You can be seriously
injured or killed. In the same crash, you might
not be if you are buckled up. Always fasten your
safety belt, and check that your passengers’ belts
are fastened properly too.
A CAUTION: ’.
It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area,
inside or outside of
a vehicle. In a collision,
people riding in these areas are more likely to be
seriously injured or killed.
Do not allow people to
ride in any area of your vehicle that is not
equipped with seats and safety belts. Be sure
everyone in your vehicle is in
a seat and using a
safety belt properly.
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Your vehicle has a light
that comes on as a reminder
to buckle up. (See “Safety
Belt Reminder Light” in
the Index.)
In most states and Canadian provinces, the law says to
wear safety belts. Here’s why:
They work.
You never know if you’ll be in a crash. If you do have a
crash, you don’t know if it will be a bad one.
A few crashes are mild, and some crashes can be
so
serious that even buckled up a person wouldn’t survive.
But most crashes are in between. In many
of them,
people who buckle up can survive and sometimes walk
away. Without belts they could have been badly
hurt
or killed.
After more than
30 years of safety belts in vehicles,
the facts
are clear. In most crashes buckling up does
matter
. . . a lot!
Why Safety Belts Work
When you ride in or on anything, you go as fast as
it goes.
I
Take the simplest vehicle. Suppose it’s just a seat
on wheels.
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Put someone on it.
Get it up to speed. Then stop the vehicle. The rider
doesn't stop.
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The person keeps going until stopped by something.
In a real vehicle, it could be the windshield ...
or the instrument panel ...
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or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the vehicle does.
You get more time to stop. You stop over more distance,
and your strongest bones take the forces. That’s why
safety belts make such good sense.
Here Are Questions Many People Ask
About Safety Belts -- and the Answers
Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if I’m wearing a safety belt?
A: You could be -- whether you’re wearing a safety
belt or not. But you can unbuckle a safety belt,
even
if you’re upside down. And your chance of
being conscious during and after an accident,
so
you can unbuckle and eet out, is much greater if
you are belted.
Q: If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have to
wear safety belts?
A: Air bags are in many vehicles today and will be in
most of them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems only;
so they work with
safety belts -- not instead of them. Every air bag
system ever offered for sale
has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you’re in
a vehicle that has air
bags, you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That’s true not only in frontal collisions,
but especially in side and other collisions.
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