2004 PONTIAC GTO Owners Manual

Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat Position
If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH
system, seeLower Anchorages and Top Tethers for
Children (LATCH System) on page 1-38.
Your vehicle has a right front passenger air bag.
Neverput a rear-facing child restraint in this seat.
Here is why:
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s air bag inates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inating air bag.
Always secure a rear-facing child restraint in a
rear seat.
A rear seat is a safer place to secure a forward-facing
child restraint. If you need to secure a forward-facing
child restraint in the right front seat, you will be using the
lap-shoulder belt. See the earlier part about theTop
Strap on page 1-36, if 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. Because your vehicle has a right front passenger
air bag, always move the seat as far back as it will
go before securing a forward-facing child restraint.
See “Seats” in the Index.
2. Put the restraint on the seat.
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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.5. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of
the retractor to set the lock.
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6. To tighten the belt, push down on the child restraint,
pull the shoulder portion of the belt to tighten the
lap portion of the belt and feed the shoulder
belt back into the retractor. You may find 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.
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.
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Air Bag Systems
This part explains the air bag system.
Your vehicle has a frontal air bag for the driver and
another frontal air bag for the right front passenger.
Frontal air bags are designed to help reduce the risk of
injury from the force of an inflating frontal air bag.
But these air bags must inflate 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 are not wearing your safety belt — 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 do not replace them. Air
bags are designed to deploy only in moderate
to severe frontal and near frontal crashes.
They are not designed to inate 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 — whether or not there is an air
bag for that person.
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{CAUTION:
Air bags inate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye. If you’re too close to an
inating 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.
{CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close to,
any air bag when it inates 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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
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 the part of this manual called
“Older Children” or “Infants and Young
Children.”
There is an 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. SeeAir Bag Readiness Light on page 3-26
for more information.
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Where Are the Air Bags?
The driver’s frontal air bag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.The right front passenger’s frontal air bag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.
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{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
air bag, the bag might not inate properly or it
might force the object into that person causing
severe injury or even death. The path of an
inating air bag must be kept clear. Don’t put
anything between an occupant and an air bag,
and don’t attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any other air
bag covering.
When Should an Air Bag Inate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal air bags
are designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal
or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inflate
only if the impact speed is above the system’s
designed “threshold level”.
If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall that
does not move or deform, the threshold level is about
11 to 17 mph (18 to 28 km/h). The threshold level can
vary, however, with specific 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 driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal air bags
are not designed to inflate in rollovers, rear impacts,
or in many side impacts because inflation would not help
the occupant.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact
and how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal and
near-frontal impacts.
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What Makes an Air Bag Inate?
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
inflator, which inflates the air bag. The inflator, 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 right front 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.
What Will You See After an Air Bag
Inates?
After the air bag inflates, it quickly deflates, so quickly
that some people may not even realize the air bag
inflated. Some components of the air bag module will be
hot for a short time. These components include the
steering wheel hub for the driver’s frontal air bag and the
instrument panel for the right front passenger’s frontal
air bag. The parts of the bag that come into contact with
you may be warm, but not too hot to touch. There will
be some smoke and dust coming from the vents in
the deflated air bags. Air bag inflation does not prevent
the driver from seeing or being able to steer the
vehicle, nor does it stop people from leaving the vehicle.
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