1998 OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE Owners Manual

Center Passenger Position
(Bench Seat)
n
Lap Belt
If your vehicle has a third row rear bench seat, someone
can sit in the center position. When
you sit
in the center position of the bench seat,
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.
1-53
ProCarManuals.com

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
1 if you ever had to.
Center Passenger Position
(Bucket Seat)
n
U
Lap Belt
If your vehicle has bucket seats, someone can sit in the
center position bucket seat.
1-54
ProCarManuals.com

When you sit in the center position bucket seat, you
have a lap safety belt which has
a retractor.
1. Pick up the latch plate and, in a single motion, pull
the belt across you. Don’t let it get twisted.
2. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks. If
the belt stops before it reaches the buckle, let it go
back
all the way and start again. Pull up on the latch
plate to make sure
it is secure.
3. Feed the lap belt into the retractor to tighten it.
4. 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 unbu&le the safety belt quickly
if
you ever had to.
1-55
ProCarManuals.com

Smaller Children and Babies
c A CAUTION
TO HELP AVOID PERSONAL
SEAT IN LOCATION SHOWN
INJURY, SECURELY LATCH
SEE OWNER’S MANUAL
MORE INFORMATION. ONLY _. Seat Location printed in: 10279595
The center position bucket seat is a CENTER OR LEFT
type seat. Because it is the only bucket seat with a lap
belt, and has a buckle on only one side, there are certain
places a CENTER
OR LEFT type bucket seat should,
and should
not, be used. See “Seats” in the Index. If the
CENTER OR LEFT bucket seat
is used on the left side
of the vehicle, the person sitting there should use the
lap-shoulder belt.
See “Rear Seat Outside Passenger
Positions” in the Index.
Children
Children who are up 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.
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.
1-56
ProCarManuals.com

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 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.
1-57
ProCarManuals.com

I A CAUTION:
1 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)
at only 25 mph (40 kmh), a 124b. (5.5 kg) baby
will suddenly become
a 240-1b. (110 kg) force on
your arms. The baby would be almost impossible
to hold.
Secure the baby in an infant restraint.
.
1-58
ProCarManuals.com

Built-in Child Restraint (Option)
If your vehicle has this option in a bucket seat, each
bucket seat that has the built-in child restraint fits in
only one location in your vehicle.
To find out where a
bucket seat that has a built-in child restraint must be
located in your vehicle, see “Removable Rear Bucket
Seats” in the Index.
If your vehicle has this option in a
60/40 bench seat, you may have one or two built-in
child restraints.
This bench seat will only fit in the
second row
of your vehicle. In both types of seats,
built-in child restraint works the same way. the
1-59
ProCarManuals.com

This child restraint system conforms to all applicable
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Each child restraint is designed for use only by children
who weigh between
22 and 40 pounds (10 and 18 kg)
and whose height is between 33.5 and 40 inches
(850 and 1 016 mm) and who are capable of sitting
upright alone.
The child should
also be at least one year old. It is
important to use a rear-facing infant restraint until the
child is about a year old.
A rex-facing restraint gives
the infant’s head, neck and body the support they would
need in a crash. See “Child Restraints” later in this
section for more information.
&: What if the top of my child’s shoulders is above
the shoulder belt slots for the five-point child
restraint harness system?
A: A child whose shoulders are above the shoulder
belt slots for the five-point child restraint harness
system shouldn’t use
this child restraint. Instead,
the child should sit
on the vehicle’s regular seat
cushion and use the vehicle’s adult safety belts.
BEFORE YOU USE THIS CHILD RESTRAINT,
BE SURE THE TOP
OF THE CHILD’S
SHOULDERS
IS BELOW THE SLOTS THAT
THE HARNESS GOES THROUGH.
A CHILD
WHOSE SHOULDERS ARE ABOVE THOSE
SLOTS COULD BE INJURED DURING
A
SUDDEN STOP OR CRASH. IF THE TOP OF
THE CHILD’S SHOULDERS IS ABOVE THE
SLOTS, DON’T USE
THIS CHILD
RESTRAINT WHILE THE VEHICLE
IS
IN MOTION.
1-60
ProCarManuals.com