2003 CHEVROLET ASTRO Owners Manual

3. Run the vehicle’s safety belt through or around the
restraint. The child restraint instructions will show
you how. 5. To tighten the belt, pull its free end 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 unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt.
It will be ready to work for an adult or
larger child passenger.
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.
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Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right
Front Seat Position
Your vehicle has a front passenger air bag. Never put
a rear facing child restr;
’ t in this seat. Here’s why:
.
If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH
system, see
Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers for
Children (LATCH
System) on page 1-52.
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can
be seriously injured or killed
if the front
passenger’s air bag inflates. This
is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close
to the inflating air bag.
If your vehicle is a passenger van, always
secure a rear-facing child restraint
in a rear
seat. If your vehicle
is a cargo van, do not use
a rear-facing child restraint in
this vehicle.
If a forward-facing child restraint
is suitable
for your child, always move the passenger seat
as far back as
it will go.
L
Although a rear seat is a safer place, you can secure a
forward-facing child restraint in the right front seat.
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You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt. See Top Strap on
page 1-48, 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 safely belt through or
around the restraint. The child restraint instructions
will show you how.
..
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.
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Air Bag System
This part explains the air bag system.
Your vehicle has air bags - one air bag for the driver
and another air bag for the right front passenger.
Frontal air bags are designed to help reduce the risk of
injury from the force of an inflating air bag. But these
air bags must inflate very quickly to do their job
and comply with federal regulations.
Here are the most important things to know about the
air bag system:
You ca.. Je severely injured or kiL- ..I a crash
if you aren’t wearing your safety belt
- even if
you have air bags. Wearing your safety belt
during a crash helps reduce your chance of
CAUTION: (Continued)
LI.cLI..g things inside the vehicle or being
ejected from
it. Air bags are designed to work
with safety belts, but don’t replace them.
Air bags are designed to deploy only in moderate to severe frontal and near frontal
crashes. They aren’t designed to inflate at all
in rollover, rear or low-speed frontal crashes,
or
in many side crashes. And, for some
unrestrained occupants, air bags may provide
less protection in frontal crashes than more
forceful air bags have provided in the past. Everyone
in your vehicle should wear a safety
belt properly
- whether or not there’s an air
bag for that person.
1-62

All bags ,,,,late with ,;eat force, faster rllan
the blink of
an eye. If you’re too close to an
inflating air bag, as you would be if you were
leaning forward,
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. Anl,,le
who is up against, or very close
.a,
any air bag when it inflates can be seriously
injured or killed.
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. To read how,
see the parts of this manual called “Older
Children” and “Infants and Young Children.”
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AIR
BAG
United States Canada
There is an air bag readiness light on the instrument
panel, which shows AIR BAG or the air bag symbol.
Where Are the Air Bags?
The system checks the air bag electrical system
for malfunctions. The light tells you
if there is an
electrical problem. See
Air Bag Readiness Light on
page
3-26 for more information.
The driver’s air bag is in the middle
of the steering
wheel.
1-64

The right front passenger’s air bag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.
16 something is between an occupant and an
air bag, the bag might not inflate properly or
it
might force the object into that person causing
severe injury or even death. The path of an
inflating air bag must be kept clear. Don’t put
anything between an occupant and an air bag,
and don’t attach or put anything on the steering
wheel hub or on or near any other air bag
covering.
1-65