1998 PONTIAC GRAND AM child restraint

Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Here you’ll find information about the seats in your Pontiac\
and how to use your safety belts properly. You can also
learn about
some things you should not do with air bags and safety belts.
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Seats and Seat Controls
Safety Belts: They’re for Everyone
Here Are Questions Many People
Ask About
Safety Belts
-- and the Answers
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Driver Position
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Right Front Passenger Position
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
Rear Seat Passengers
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Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children
and Small Adults
Center Passenger Position
Children
Child Restraints
Larger Children Safety Belt Extender
Checking Your Restraint Systems
Replacing Restraint System
Parts
After a Crash
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How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
Adults
This part is only for people of adult size.
Be aware
that there are special things to know about safety
belts and children. And there are Merent rules for smaller
children and babies. If a child will be riding in your
vehicle,
see the part of this manual called “Children.”
Follow those rules for everyone’s protection.
First, you’ll
want to know which restraint systems your
vehicle has.
We’ll
start with the driver position.
Driver Position
This part describes the driver’s restraint system.
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The driver has a lap-shoulder belt. Here’s how to wear
it properly.
1. Close and lock the door.
2. Adjust the seat (to see how, see “Seats” in the Index)\

so you can sit up straight.
3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let it get twisted.
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
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UTION:
I -
Air bags inflate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye.
If you’re too close to an inflating
air bag, it could seriously injure you. Safety belts
help keep you in position before and during a
crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with air
bags. The driver should sit as
far back as possible
while still maintaining control of the vehicle.
I
1 A CAUTION:
r Children who are up against, or very close to, an
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed.
Air bags plus lap-shoulder belts offer
the best protection for adults and older children,
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. To read how, see the
part of this manual called “Children” and see the
caution labels on the sunvisors and the right front
passenger’s safety belt.
I
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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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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.
I A CAUTION:
Smaller Children and Babies
r-
I I
Children who are up against, or very close to, an
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. Air bags plus lap-shoulder belts offer
the best protection for adults and older children,
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.

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.
lnfants 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 fist trip in a
motor vehicle.
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Child Restraints
Every time infants and young children ride in
vehicles, they should have protection provided by
appropriate restraints.
@ What are the different types of add-on
child restraints?
A: Add-on child restraints are available in four basic
types. When selecting a child restraint, take into
consideration not only the child’s weight and size,
but
also whether or not the restraint will be
compatible with
the motor vehicle in which it will
be used.
An infant car bed (A) is a special bed made for use
in a motor vehicle. It’s an infant restraint system
designed to restrain or position a child
on a
continuous flat surface. With an infant car bed,
make
sure that the infant’s head rests toward the
center
of the vehicle.
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A forward-facing child restraint (C-E) positions a
child upright to face forward in the vehicle. These
forward-facing restraints are designed
to help
protect children
who are from 20 to 40 lbs.
(9 to 18 kg) 'and about 26 to 40 inches
(66 to 102 cm) in height, or up to around four years
of age. One type, a convertible restraint, is
designed
to be used either as a rear-facing infant
seat or
a forward-facing child seat.