2003 CHEVROLET EXPRESS CARGO VAN seats

Safety Belts
Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone
This part of the manual tells you how to use safety
belts properly. It also tells you some things you should
not do with safety belts.
{CAUTION:
Don't let anyone ride where he or she can't
wear a safety belt properly. If you are in a
crash and you're not wearing a safety belt,
your injuries can be much worse. You can hit
things inside the vehicle or be ejected from it.
You can be seriously injured or killed. In the
same crash, you might not be, if you are
buckled up. Always fasten your safety belt,
and check that your passengers' belts are
fastened properly too.
{CAUTION:
It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo
area, inside or outside of a vehicle. In a
collision, people riding in these areas are more
likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not
allow people to ride in any area of your vehicle
that is not equipped with seats and safety
belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a
seat and using a safety belt properly.
Your vehicle has a light
that comes on as a
reminder to buckle up. See
Safety Belt Reminder
Light on page 3-26.
1-10

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 so you can sit up straight. To see
how, see ªSeatsº in the Index.
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.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure.
If the belt isn't long enough, see
Safety Belt
Extender on page 1-33.
Make sure the release button on the buckle is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if you ever had to.
1-16

Center Passenger Position
(3rd, 4th and 5th Row)Lap Belt
If your vehicle has third, fourth or ®fth row bench seats,
someone can sit in the center positions.
When you sit in a center seating position in the third,
fourth or ®fth row, 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.
1-26

Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
Your vehicle may have this feature already. If it doesn't,
you can get it from any GM dealer.
Rear safety belt comfort guides will provide added
safety belt comfort for older children who have outgrown
booster seats and for small adults. When installed on
a shoulder belt, the comfort guide better positions
the belt away from the neck and head.
There is one guide available for each outside passenger
position in the rear seats. To provide added safety
belt comfort for children who have outgrown child
restraints and booster seats 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. Locate the guide on the side of the seatback.
1-31

Child Restraints
Older Children
Older children who have outgrown booster seats should
wear the vehicle's safety belts.
If you have the choice, a child should sit in a seating
position that has a lap-shoulder belt to get the additional
restraint a shoulder belt can provide.
Q:What is the proper way to wear safety belts?
A:If possible, an older child should wear a
lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a
shoulder belt can provide. The shoulder belt
should not cross the face or neck. The lap belt
should ®t snugly below the hips, just touching the
top of the thighs. It should never be worn over
the abdomen, which could cause severe or even
fatal internal injuries in a crash.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear seat.
In a crash, children who are not buckled up can strike
other people who are buckled up, or can be thrown
out of the vehicle. Older children need to use safety
belts properly.
1-34

A forward-facing child seat (C-E) provides restraint for
the child's body with the harness and also sometimes
with surfaces such as T-shaped or shelf-like shields.A booster seat (F-G) is a child restraint designed to
improve the ®t of the vehicle's safety belt system. Some
booster seats have a shoulder belt positioner, and
some high-back booster seats have a ®ve-point harness.
A booster seat can also help a child to see out the
window.
1-43

Top Strap Anchor Location
On vehicles with a front passenger seat, the anchor for
a top strap is located at the rear of the seat cushion
on the right front passenger's seat.
If your vehicle is a passenger van with rear seats, an
anchor bracket for a top strap is located at the rear
of the seat cushion for each three-passenger rear bench
seat. Don't use a child restraint with a top strap in the
right front passenger's position, or in any four-passenger
rear bench seat.The top strap is designed for the second row driver side
position and the third/fourth row center searing
positions in a three-passenger rear bench seat.
Anchor the top strap to this bracket. For the second row
only, in the left outboard seating position, use anchor
point (A). For the right outboard seating position,
use anchor point (B). For a center seating position, use
either anchor point (A) or (B). Passenger and Cargo Van Models
Passenger Van 3±Passenger Rear Seats
1-50

Lower Anchorages and Top Tethers
for Children (LATCH System)
If you have a passenger van, it may have the LATCH
system. If it does, you'll ®nd two sets of anchors (A)
in the second row of seats in the driver and passenger
side seating positions, where the seatback meets
the seat cushion.In order to use the system, you need either a
forward-facing child restraint that has attaching
points (B) at its base and a top tether anchor (C), or a
rear-facing child restraint that has attaching points (B),
as shown here.
1-51