2004 CHEVROLET ASTRO CARGO VAN ESP

or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the vehicle does.
You get more time to stop. You stop over more distance,
and your strongest bones take the forces. That’s why
safety belts make such good sense.
Questions and Answers
About Safety Belts
Q:Won’t I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if I’m wearing a safety belt?
A:Youcouldbe — whether you’re wearing a safety
belt or not. But you can unbuckle a safety belt,
even if you’re upside down. And your chance
of being conscious during and after an accident,
so youcanunbuckle and get out, ismuchgreater
if you are belted.
Q:If my vehicle has air bags, why should I have
to wear safety belts?
A:Air bags are in many vehicles today and will be
in most of them in the future. But they are
supplemental systems only; so they workwith
safety belts — not instead of them. Every air bag
system ever offered for sale has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you’re in a vehicle that has
air bags, you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That’s true not only in frontal collisions,
but especially in side and other collisions.
1-17

Doors and Locks
{CAUTION:
Unlocked doors can be dangerous.
Passengers — especially children — can
easily open the doors and fall out of a
moving vehicle. When a door is locked,
the handle will not open it. You increase
the chance of being thrown out of the
vehicle in a crash if the doors are not
locked. So, wear safety belts properly
and lock the doors whenever you drive.
Young children who get into unlocked
vehicles may be unable to get out.
A child can be overcome by extreme
heat and can suffer permanent injuries
or even death from heat stroke. Always
lock your vehicle whenever you leave it.
Outsiders can easily enter through an
unlocked door when you slow down or
stop your vehicle. Locking your doors
can help prevent this from happening.There are several ways to lock and unlock your vehicle.
To unlock your door from the outside, use your key
or remote keyless entry transmitter, if equipped.
For more information, seeRemote Keyless Entry
System Operation on page 2-5.
To lock or unlock the
front doors and sliding
side door from the inside,
slide the manual lock
levers. When the red
mark on the lock lever
is visible, the door
is unlocked.
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Windows
{CAUTION:
Leaving children, helpless adults, or pets in a
vehicle with the windows closed is dangerous.
They can be overcome by the extreme heat
and suffer permanent injuries or even death
from heat stroke. Never leave a child, a
helpless adult, or a pet alone in a vehicle,
especially with the windows closed in warm
or hot weather.
Manual Windows
To operate your manual windows, turn the hand crank
on each door to raise or lower your side door windows.
2-15

Theft-Deterrent Systems
Vehicle theft is a big business, especially in some cities.
Although your vehicle has a number of theft-deterrent
features, we know that nothing we put on it can
make it impossible to steal. However, there are ways
you can help.
Passlock®
Your vehicle is equipped with the Passlock®
theft-deterrent system.
Passlock
®is a passive theft-deterrent system. Passlock®
enables fuel if the ignition lock cylinder is turned with
a valid key. If a correct key is not used or the ignition
lock cylinder is tampered with, fuel is disabled.
During normal operation, the SECURITY light will
go off approximately ve seconds after the key is
turned to RUN.If the engine stalls and the SECURITY light ashes,
wait until the light stops ashing before trying to restart
the engine. Remember to release the key from
START as soon as the engine starts.
If the engine is running and the SECURITY light comes
on, you will be able to restart the engine if you turn
the engine off. However, your Passlock
®system is
not working properly and must be serviced by your
dealer. Your vehicle is not protected by Passlock
®at
this time. You may also want to check the fuse.
SeeFuses and Circuit Breakers on page 5-101.
See your dealer for service.
2-17

There is a delay in the transition between the daytime
and nighttime operation of the Daytime Running
Lamps (DRL) and the automatic headlamp systems so
that driving under bridges or bright overhead street
lights does not affect the system. The DRL and
automatic headlamp system will only be affected when
the light sensor sees a change in lighting lasting
longer than the delay.
To idle your vehicle with the automatic headlamp
system off, set the parking brake while the ignition is off.
Then start your vehicle. The automatic headlamp
system will stay off until you release the parking brake.
You may be able to turn off your automatic headlamp
system. See “Daytime Running Lamps (DRL)” later
in this section for more information.
As with any vehicle, you should turn on the regular
headlamps when you need them.
Lamps On Reminder
A reminder tone will sound when your headlamps or
parking lamps are manually turned on and your ignition
is in OFF, LOCK or ACCESSORY. To disable the
tone, turn the instrument panel brightness thumbwheel
all the way down. In the automatic mode, the
headlamps turn off once the ignition key is in OFF.
Daytime Running Lamps (DRL)
Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) can make it easier
for others to see the front of your vehicle during the day.
DRL can be helpful in many different driving conditions,
but they can be especially helpful in the short periods
after dawn and before sunset. Fully functional daytime
running lamps are required on all vehicles rst sold
in Canada.
The DRL system will make your headlamps come on
at a reduced brightness when the following conditions
are met:
The ignition is on,
the exterior lamp control is off.
the automatic transmission is not in PARK (P),
the light sensor determines it is daytime and
the parking brake is released.
When the DRL are on, only your DRL lamps will be on.
The taillamps, sidemarker and other lamps won’t be
on. Your instrument panel won’t be lit up either.
When it begins to get dark, the automatic headlamp
system will switch from DRL to the headlamps or the last
chosen headlamp setting that was used.
3-13

Radio Reception
AM
The range for most AM stations is greater than for FM,
especially at night. The longer range, however, can
cause stations to interfere with each other. AM can
pick up noise from things like storms and power lines.
Try reducing the treble to reduce this noise.
FM
FM stereo will give you the best sound, but FM signals
will reach only about 10 to 40 miles (16 to 65 km).
Tall buildings or hills can interfere with FM signals,
causing the sound to come and go.
Care of Your CDs
Handle CDs carefully. Store them in their original
cases or other protective cases and away from direct
sunlight and dust. If the surface of a CD is soiled,
dampen a clean, soft cloth in a mild, neutral detergent
solution and clean it, wiping from the center to the edge.
Be sure never to touch the side without writing when
handling CDs. Pick up CDs by grasping the outer
edges or the edge of the hole and the outer edge.
Care of Your CD Player
The use of CD lens cleaners for CD players is not
advised, due to the risk of contaminating the lens
of the CD optics with lubricants internal to the
CD mechanism.
Fixed Mast Antenna
The xed mast antenna can withstand most car
washes without being damaged. If the mast should
ever become slightly bent, straighten it out by hand.
If the mast is badly bent, replace it.
Check occasionally to make sure the mast is still
tightened to the fender. If tightening is required,
tighten by hand, then with a wrench one quarter turn.
3-47

Your Driving, the Road, and
Your Vehicle
Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving
is: Drive defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device in your
vehicle: Buckle up. SeeSafety Belts: They Are for
Everyone on page 1-13.
Defensive driving really means “be ready for anything.”
On city streets, rural roads, or freeways, it means
“always expect the unexpected.”
Assume that pedestrians or other drivers are going to
be careless and make mistakes. Anticipate what
they might do. Be ready for their mistakes.
Rear-end collisions are about the most preventable of
accidents. Yet they are common. Allow enough following
distance. It is the best defensive driving maneuver, in
both city and rural driving. You never know when the
vehicle in front of you is going to brake or turn suddenly.
Defensive driving requires that a driver concentrate on
the driving task. Anything that distracts from the driving
task — such as concentrating on a cellular telephone call,
reading, or reaching for something on the oor — makesproper defensive driving more difficult and can even
cause a collision, with resulting injury. Ask a passenger to
help do things like this, or pull off the road in a safe place
to do them yourself. These simple defensive driving
techniques could save your life.Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is
a national tragedy. It is the number one contributor
to the highway death toll, claiming thousands of victims
every year.
Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive
a vehicle:
Judgment
Muscular Coordination
Vision
Attentiveness.
Police records show that almost half of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases,
these deaths are the result of someone who was
drinking and driving. In recent years, more than
16,000 annual motor vehicle-related deaths have been
associated with the use of alcohol, with more than
300,000 people injured.
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There is a gender difference, too. Women generally
have a lower relative percentage of body water
than men. Since alcohol is carried in body water, this
means that a woman generally will reach a higher BAC
level than a man of her same body weight will when
each has the same number of drinks.
The law in an increasing number of U.S. states, and
throughout Canada, sets the legal limit at 0.08 percent.
In some other countries, the limit is even lower.
For example, it is 0.05 percent in both France and
Germany. The BAC limit for all commercial drivers
in the United States is 0.04 percent.
The BAC will be over 0.10 percent after three to
six drinks (in one hour). Of course, as we have seen,
it depends on how much alcohol is in the drinks,
and how quickly the person drinks them.
But the ability to drive is affected well below a BAC of
0.10 percent. Research shows that the driving skills
of many people are impaired at a BAC approaching
0.05 percent, and that the effects are worse at night.
All drivers are impaired at BAC levels above
0.05 percent.Statistics show that the chance of being in a collision
increases sharply for drivers who have a BAC of
0.05 percent or above. A driver with a BAC level of
0.06 percent has doubled his or her chance of having a
collision. At a BAC level of 0.10 percent, the chance
of this driver having a collision is 12 times greater; at a
level of 0.15 percent, the chance is 25 times greater!
The body takes about an hour to rid itself of the alcohol in
one drink. No amount of coffee or number of cold
showers will speed that up. “I will be careful” is not the
right answer. What if there is an emergency, a need to
take sudden action, as when a child darts into the street?
A person with even a moderate BAC might not be able to
react quickly enough to avoid the collision.
There is something else about drinking and driving that
many people do not know. Medical research shows that
alcohol in a person’s system can make crash injuries
worse, especially injuries to the brain, spinal cord or
heart. This means that when anyone who has been
drinking — driver or passenger — is in a crash, that
person’s chance of being killed or permanently disabled
is higher than if the person had not been drinking.
4-4