2005 CHEVROLET ASTRO Owners Manual

1. Make the belt as long as possible by tilting the latch
plate and pulling it along the belt.
2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
3. Run 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. To tighten the belt, pull its free end while you
push down on the child restraint. If you are using
a forward-facing child restraint, you may nd it
helpful to use your knee to push down on the child
restraint as you tighten the belt.
6. 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. It will be ready to work for an adult or
larger child passenger.
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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 1-54.
If your vehicle is a passenger van, there is no top strap
anchor in the right front passenger’s position. Do not
secure a child seat in this position if a national or local
law requires that the top strap be anchored, or if the
instructions that come with the child restraint say that the
top strap must be anchored. SeeTop Strap on
page 1-50if the child restraint has one.
Your vehicle has a front passenger airbag.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 front
passenger’s airbag inates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inating airbag.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
If your vehicle is a passenger van, always
secure a rear-facing child restraint in a rear
seat. If your vehicle is a cargo van, do not use
a rear-facing child restraint in this vehicle.
If you need to secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front seat, always move
the passenger seat as far back as it will go.
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 to secure the child restraint in this position. 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
airbag, always move the seat as far back as it will
go before securing a forward-facing child restraint.
SeeManual Seats on page 1-3.
2. Put the child 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 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 nd 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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Airbag System
Your vehicle has airbags – one airbag for the driver
and another airbag for the right front passenger.
Frontal airbags are designed to help reduce the risk of
injury from the force of an inating airbag. But these
airbags must inate very quickly to do their job
and comply with federal regulations.
Here are the most important things to know about the
airbag system:{CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash
if you are not wearing your safety belt — even if
you have airbags. Wearing your safety belt
during a crash helps reduce your chance of
hitting things inside the vehicle or being ejected
from it. Airbags are designed to work with
safety belts, but do not replace them. Airbags
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,
airbags may provide less protection in frontal
crashes than more forceful airbags have
provided in the past. Everyone in your vehicle
should wear a safety belt properly — whether or
not there is an airbag for that person.
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{CAUTION:
Airbags inate with great force, faster than
the blink of an eye. If you are too close to an
inating airbag, 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 airbags. 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 airbag when it inates can be seriously
injured or killed. Airbags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer the best protection for adults, but
not for young children and infants. Neither the
vehicle’s safety belt system nor its airbag
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,
seeOlder Children on page 1-38andInfants
and Young Children on page 1-40.
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There is an airbag readiness light on the instrument
panel, which shows AIR BAG or the airbag symbol.
The system checks the airbag electrical system
for malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an
electrical problem. SeeAirbag Readiness Light on
page 3-26for more information.
Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s airbag is in the middle of the steering wheel. United States
Canada
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The right front passenger’s airbag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
airbag, 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 airbag must be kept clear. Do not put
anything between an occupant and an airbag,
and do not attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any other
airbag covering.
When Should an Airbag Inate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal airbags
are designed to inate in moderate to severe frontal
or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to
inate only if the impact exceeds a predetermined
deployment threshold. Deployment thresholds take
into account a variety of desired deployment and
non-deployment events and are used to predict
how severe a crash is likely to be in time for the
airbags to inate and help restrain the occupants.
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