2003 CHEVROLET CORVETTE belt

You'll be using the lap-shoulder belt. SeeTop Strap on
page 1-30if 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. Your vehicle has a passenger's air bag. If you are
using a rear-facing child restraint in this seat, make
sure the air bag is turned off. See
Air Bag Off
Switch on page 1-44. If your child restraint is
forward-facing, always move the seat as far back
as it will go before securing it in this seat. See
Manual Seats on page 1-2orPower Seats
on page 1-2.
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.
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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5. Pull the rest of the lap belt all the way out of the
retractor to set the lock.6. To tighten the belt, feed the lap belt back into the
retractor while you push down on the child restraint.
You may ®nd 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
directions to be sure it is secure.
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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.
If you were using a rear-facing child restraint, turn on
the passenger's air bag when you remove the
rear-facing child restraint from the vehicle unless the
person who will be sitting there is a member of a
passenger air bag risk group. See
Air Bag Off Switch on
page 1-44.
{CAUTION:
If the passenger's air bag is turned off for a
person who isn't in a risk group identi®ed by
the national government, that person won't
have the extra protection of an air bag. In a
crash, the air bag wouldn't be able to in¯ate
and help protect the person sitting there. Don't
turn off the passenger's air bag unless the
person sitting there is in a risk group. See ªAir
Bag Off Switchº in the Index for more on this,
including important safety information.
1-38

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 passenger.
Frontal air bags are designed to help reduce the risk of
injury from the force of an in¯ating air bag. But these
air bags must in¯ate very quickly to do their job
and comply with federal regulations.
Here are the most important things to know about the
air bag system:
{CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash
if you aren't wearing your safety belt Ð even if
you have air bags. Wearing your safety belt
during a crash helps reduce your chance of
hitting 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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
They aren't designed to in¯ate 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 Ð whether or not there's an air
bag for that person.
{CAUTION:
Air bags in¯ate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye. If you're too close to an
in¯ating 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.
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{CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close to,
any air bag when it in¯ates 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
Older Children on page 1-21andInfants
and Young Children on page 1-23
.
There is a air bag
readiness light on the
instrument panel, which
shows the air bag symbol.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 3-32for more information.
Where Are the Air Bags?
The driver's air bag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
1-40

When Should an Air Bag In¯ate?
An air bag is designed to in¯ate in a moderate to severe
frontal, or near-frontal crash. The air bag will in¯ate
only if the impact speed is above the system's designed
ªthreshold level.º If your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that does not move or deform, the threshold level is
about 9 to 15 mph (14 to 24 km/h). The threshold
level can vary, however, with speci®c vehicle design, so
that it can be somewhat above or below this range. If
your vehicle strikes something that will move or deform,
such as a parked car, the threshold level will be
higher. The air bag is not designed to in¯ate in rollovers,
rear impacts, or in many side impacts because in¯ation
would not help the occupant.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have in¯ated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
In¯ation is determined by the angle of the impact
and how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal or
near-frontal impacts.
What Makes an Air Bag In¯ate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. The
sensing system triggers a release of gas from the
in¯ator, which in¯ates the air bag. The in¯ator, air bag
and related hardware are all part of the air bag modules
inside the steering wheel and in the instrument panel
in front of the passenger.
How Does an Air Bag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel. Air bags supplement the
protection provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute
the force of the impact more evenly over the occupant's
upper body, stopping the occupant more gradually.
But air bags would not help you in many types of
collisions, including rollovers, rear impacts and many
side impacts, primarily because an occupant's motion is
not toward those air bags. Air bags should never be
regarded as anything more than a supplement to safety
belts, and then only in moderate to severe frontal or
near-frontal collisions.
1-42

Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
passenger air bag.
·Air bags are designed to in¯ate only once. After an
air bag in¯ates, you'll need some new parts for
your air bag system. If you don't get them, the air
bag system won't be there to help protect you
in another crash. A new system will include air bag
modules and possibly other parts. The service
manual for your vehicle covers the need to replace
other parts.
·Your vehicle is equipped with a diagnostic module,
which records information about the air bag
system. The module records information about the
readiness of the system, when the system
commands air bag in¯ation and driver's safety belt
usage at deployment. The module also records
speed, engine rpm, brake and throttle data.
·Let only quali®ed technicians work on your air bag
systems. Improper service can mean that an air
bag system won't work properly. See your dealer for
service.
Notice:If you damage the covering for the driver's
or the passenger's air bag, the bag may not work
properly. You may have to replace the air bag
module in the steering wheel or both the air bag
module and the instrument panel for the
passenger's air bag. Do not open or break the air
bag coverings.
Air Bag Off Switch
Your vehicle has a switch in the glove box that you can
use to turn off the passenger's air bag.
This switch should only be turned to AIR BAG OFF if
the person in the passenger's position is a member of a
passenger risk group identi®ed by the national
government as follows:
1-44

Infant. An infant (less than 1 year old)
must ride in the front seat because:
·
my vehicle has no rear seat;
·my vehicle has a rear seat too small to
accommodate a rear-facing infant seat; or
·the infant has a medical condition which, according
to the infant's physician, makes it necessary for the
infant to ride in the front seat so that the driver
can constantly monitor the child's condition.
Child age 1 to 12. A child age 1 to 12 must
ride in the front seat because:
·
my vehicle has no rear seat;
·although children ages 1 to 12 ride in the rear
seat(s) whenever possible, children ages 1 to 12
sometimes must ride in the front because no space
is available in the rear seat(s) of my vehicle; or
·the child has a medical condition which, according
to the child's physician, makes it necessary for the
child to ride in the front seat so that the driver
can constantly monitor the child's condition.
Medical Condition. A passenger has a
medical condition which, according to his
or her physician:
·
causes the passenger air bag to pose a special risk
for the passenger; and
·makes the potential harm from the passenger air
bag in a crash greater than the potential harm
from turning off the air bag and allowing the
passenger, even if belted, to hit the dashboard or
windshield in a crash.
{CAUTION:
If the passenger's air bag is turned off for a
person who isn't in a risk group identi®ed by
the national government, that person won't
have the extra protection of an air bag. In a
crash, the air bag wouldn't be able to in¯ate
and help protect the person sitting there. Don't
turn off the passenger's air bag unless the
person sitting there is in a risk group.
1-45