1998 PONTIAC FIREBIRD child restraint

Top Strap
If your child restraint has a top strap, it should be
anchored. If you need to have an anchor installed,
you
can ask your Pontiac dealer to put it in for you. If you
want to install an anchor yourself, your dealer can tell
you how to do it.
If you have a convertible, don’t use a restraint that has a
top strap in your vehicle because the top strap anchor
cannot be installed properly.
The place where the anchor has to go is quite
close to your fuel tank.
If the anchor isn’t
installed correctly, it can make a hole in the fuel
tank
-- either then, or in a later collision.
Gasoline could leak out and be ignited, and
people in the vehicle or outside it could be badly
burned. Don’t install the anchor yourself unless
you know you can
do it correctly.
Canadian law requires that child restraints have a top
strap, and that the strap be anchored.
If your child restraint has a top strap, your dealer can
obtain a kit with anchor hardware and installation
instructions specifically designed for this vehicle. The
dealer can then install the anchor for you.
In Canada,
this work
will be done for you free of charge. Or, you
may install the anchor yourself using the instructions
provided
in the kit.
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Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Seat Position
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. Put the restraint on the seat.
2. 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.
3. Tilt the latch plate to adjust the belt if needed.
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.
5. To tighten the belt, pull up on the shoulder belt 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.
directions to be sure
it is secure.
6. Push and pull the child restraint in different
To remove the child restraint, just unbucMe 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.
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Securing a Child Restraint in the Right
Front Seat Position
Your vehicle has a right front passenger air bag. Never
put a rear-facing child restraint in this seat. Here’s why:
’ION:
A child in a rearfacing 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 rearfacing child
restraint would be
very close to the inflating air
bag. Always secure
a rearfacing child restraint
in the rear seat. 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. Because your vehicle has a right front passenger air
bag, always move the seat as
far back as it will go
before securing a forward-facing child restraint.
(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.
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1
4. Tilt the latch plate to adjust the belt if needed.
If the shoulder belt goes in front of the child’s face or
neck, put it behind the child restraint.
5. 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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6. To tighten the belt, pull up on the shoulder belt 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.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
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. directions to
be sure it is secure.
Larger Children
a
U
Children who have outgrown child restraints should
wear the vehicle’s safety belts.
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
Children who aren’t buckled up can strike other
a
crash.
people who are.
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@ 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.
A CAUTION: I
I
I
Here a child is sitting in a seat that has a
lap-shoulder belt, but the shoulder part is behind
the child.
If the child wears the belt in this way, in
a crash the child might slide under the belt. The
belt’s force would then be applied right on the
child’s abdomen. That could cause serious
or
fatal injuries.
Wherever the child sits, the lap portion of the belt
should be
worn low and snug on the hips, just touching
the child’s thighs.
This applies belt force to the child’s
pelvic bones in a crash.
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If you put things inside your vehicle -- like suitcases,
tools, packages or anything else
-- they will go as fast as
the vehicle goes. If you have to stop
or turn quickly, or
if there is a crash, they’ll keep going.
1 /d CAUTION:
Do not load your vehicle any heavier than the
GVWR, or either the maximum front or rear
GAWR. If you do, parts on your vehicle can
break, or it can change the way your vehicle
handles. These could cause
you to lose control.
Also, overloading can shorten the life of
your vehicle. Things
you put inside your vehicle can strike
and injure people in a sudden stop
or turn, or
in a crash.
0 Put things in the rear area of your vehicle.
Try to spread the weight evenly.
Never stack heavier things, like suitcases,
inside the vehicle
so that some of them are
above the tops
of the seats.
Don’t leave an unsecured child restraint in
your vehicle.
I. When you carry something inside the
vehicle, secure it whenever you can.
Don’t leave a seat folded down unless
you need to.
L
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