2003 Oldsmobile Bravada Owner's Manuals

Safety Belt Extender
If the vehicle’s safety belt will fasten around you, you
should use it.
But
if a safety belt isn’t long enough to fasten, your
dealer will order you an extender.
It’s free. When you go
in
to order it, take the heaviest coat you will wear, so
the extender will be long enough for you. The extender
will be just for you, and just for the seat in your
vehicle that you choose. Don’t let someone else use it,
and use it only for the seat it is made
to fit. To wear
it, just attach
it to the regular safety belt.
4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described in
Rear Seat Passengers on page 1-21.
Make sure that the shoulder belt crosses the
shoulder.
To remove and store the comfort guides, squeeze the
belt edges together
so that you can take them out of the
guides. Slide the guide back on its storage clip located
between the interior body and the seatback.
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Child Restraints
Older Children
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 fit snugly below the hips, just touching the
top of the thighs.
It should never be worn over
the abdomen, which could cause severe 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.
Older children who have outgrown booster seats should
wear the vehicle's safety belts.
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f ~ ~ :es 1 a crash, the two chi1 en can be
crushed together and seriously injured.
A belt
must be used by only one person at a time.
Q: What if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt,
but is so small that the shoulder belt is very
close to
the child’s face or neck?
S.
1 I
Here two children are wearing the same belt.
The belt can’t properly spread the impact
CAUTION: (Continued)
I I
A: If the child is sitting in a seat next to a window,
move the child toward the center
of the vehicle.
If the child is sitting in the center rear seat
passenger position, move the child toward the
safety belt buckle. In either case, be sure that the
shoulder belt still is on the child’s shoulder,
so
that in a crash the child’s upper body would have
the restraint that the belts provide.
If the child
is sitting in the rear seat outside position,
see
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for Children
and Small Adults
on page 1-24.
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Never do this.
Here
a child is sitting in a seat that has a
lap-shoulder belt, but the shoulder part is
I
CAUTION: (Continued)
I
behind the child. If the child wears the belt in
this way, in
a crash the child might slide under
the belt. The belt’s force would then be applied right on the child’s abdomen. That could cause
serious or fatal injuries.
Wherever the child sits, the lap portion of the belt
should be worn low and snug on the hips, just touching
the child’s thighs. This applies belt force
to the child’s
pelvic bones in a crash.
Infants and Young Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! This includes
infants and all other children. 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.
Every time infants and young children ride in vehicles,
they should have the protection provided by appropriate restraints. Young children should not use the vehicle’s
adult safety belts alone, unless there is no other choice.
Instead, they need to use a child restraint.
1-29

People should never hold a baby in their arms
while riding
in a vehicle. A baby doesn't weigh
much
-- until a crash. During a crash a baby
will become
so heavy it is not possible to hold
CAUTION: (Continued)
it. r'or example, in a crash at only ~5 mph
(40 km/h), a 12-lb.
(5.5 kg) baby will suddenly
become a 240-lb. (110 kg) force on a person's
arms.
A baby should be secured in an
appropriate restraint.
1-30

Children who are up against, or very close to,
any air bag when
it inflates can be seriously
injured or killed. Air bags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer outstanding 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.
Q: What are the different types of add-on child
restraints?
A: Add-on child restraints, which are purchased by the
vehicle’s owner, are available in four basic types.
Selection of a particular restraint should take
into consideration not only the child’s weight, height,
and age but also whether or not the restraint will
be compatible with the motor vehicle
in which it will
be used. For most
basic types
of child restraints, there are
many different models available. When purchasing a
child restraint, be sure it is designed to be used
in a motor vehicle.
if it is, the restraint will have a
label saying that it meets federal motor vehicle
safety standards.
The restraint manufacturer’s instructions that come with the restraint state the weight and height
limitations for a particular child restraint. In addition,
there are many kinds of restraints available for
children with special needs.
Newborn infants need complete sum ort,
~ including support for the head and neck. This is necessary because
a newborn 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 seat settles into the
restraint,
so the crash forces can be
distributed across the strongest part of an infant’s body, the back and shoulders. Infants
always should be secured in appropriate infant restraints.
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1
Child Restraint Systems
The body structure of a young child is quite
unlike that of an adult or older child, for whom
the safety belts are designed.
A young child’s
hip bones are still so small that the vehicle’s
regular safety belt may not remain low on the
hip bones,
as it should. Instead, it may settle
up around the child’s abdomen.
In a crash, the
belt would apply force on
a body area that’s
unprotected by any bony structure. This alone
could cause serious or fatal injuries. Young children always should be secured in
appropriate child restraints.
t
I
‘L
An infant car bed (A), a special bed made for use in a
motor vehicle, is an infant restraint system designed
to restrain or position a child
on a continuous flat
surface. Make sure that the infant’s head rests toward
the center of the vehicle.
1 -32

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