2003 GMC SIERRA DENALI Owners Manual

Q: What’s wrong with this?
L
A: The belt is over an armrest. You
can be serioL.-.y injured if your
->It goes
over an armrest like this. The
belt would be
much too high.
In a crash, you can slide under
the belt. The belt force would then be applied
at the abdomen, not at the pelvic bones, and
that could cause serious or fatal injuries. Be
sure the belt goes under the armrests.
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Q: What’s wrong with this?
You can be seriously
in- -ed if you wear the
shoulder belt under your arm.
In a crash, your
body would move too far forward, which would increase the chance
of head and neck injury.
Also, the belt would apply too much force to
the ribs, which aren’t as strong as shoulder
bones. You could also severely injure internal
organs like your liver or spleen.
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times.
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Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body. You can
be seriously injured by a twisted belt.
In a crash, you wouldn’t have the full width of
the belt to spread impact forces.
If a belt is
twisted, make it straight
so it can work
properly, or ask your dealer to
fix it.
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Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Safety belts work for everyone, including pregnant
women. Like all occupants, they are more likely to be
seriously injured
if they don’t wear safety belts.
To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
The belt should go back out
of the way.
Before you close the door, be sure the belt is out of the
way.
If you slam the door on it, you can damage
both the belt and your vehicle.
A pregnant woman should wear a lap-shoulder belt, and
the lap portion should be worn as low as possible,
below the rounding, throughout the pregnancy.
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The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the
mother. When a safety belt is worn properly, it’s more
likely that the fetus won’t be hurt in a crash. For
pregnant women, as for anyone, the key to making
safety belts effective is wearing them properly.
Right Front Passenger Position
To learn how to wear the right front passenger’s safety
belt properly, see
Driver Position on page 1-13.
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same
way as the driver’s safety belt-except for one thing.
If you ever pull the shoulder portion of the belt out all the
way, you will engage the child restraint locking feature
which may turn
off the passenger’s frontal air bag. If this
happens unintentionally, just let the belt go back all
the way and start again.
Center Passenger Position
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Lap Belt
When you sit in a center seating position, 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.
To make the belt shorter, pull its free end as shown
until the belt is snug.
Buckle, position and release it the same way as the lap
part of a lap-shoulder belt.
If the belt isn’t long
enough, see
Safety Belt Extender on page 1-29.
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.
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Rear Seat Passengers
It’s very important for rear seat passengers to buckle
up! Accident statistics show that unbelted people in the
rear seat are hurt more often
in crashes than those
who are wearing safety belts.
Rear passengers who aren’t safety belted can be
thrown out of the vehicle in a crash. And they can strike
others in the vehicle who are wearing safety belts.
Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The positions next to the windows have lap-shoulder
belts. Here’s how to wear one properly.
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1. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Don’t let it get twisted.
The shoulder belt may lock
if you pull the belt
across you very quickly. If this happens, let the belt
go back slightly to unlock it. Then pull the belt
across you more slowly.
2. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure.
When the shoulder belt is pulled out all the way, it
will lock. If it does, let it go back all the way
and start again.
If the belt is not long enough, see Safety Belt
Extender on page
1-29.
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.
3. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle
end
of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder part.
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