2006 CADILLAC STS ECU

4. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of
the retractor to set the lock.5. 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. 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. If your child restraint manufacturer recommends
using a top tether, attach and tighten the top tether to
the top tether anchor. Refer to the instructions that
came with the child restraint and seeLower Anchors
and Tethers for Children (LATCH) on page 1-37.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different directions
to be sure it is secure.
1-45

To remove the child restraint, if the top tether is attached
to the top tether anchor, disconnect it. 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.
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat Position
Your vehicle has a right front passenger airbag. A rear
seat is a safer place to secure a forward-facing child
restraint. SeeWhere to Put the Restraint on page 1-36.
In addition, your vehicle has a passenger sensing
system. The passenger sensing system is designed
to turn off the right front passenger’s frontal airbag when
an infant in a rear-facing infant seat or a small child
in a forward-facing child restraint or booster seat
is detected. SeePassenger Sensing System on
page 1-59andPassenger Airbag Status Indicator on
page 3-61for more information on this including
important safety information.
A label on your sun visor says, “Never put a rear-facing
child seat in the front.” This is because the risk to the
rear-facing child is so great, if the airbag deploys.
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s airbag inates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the passenger’s frontal
airbag if the system detects a rear-facing child
restraint, no system is fail-safe, and no one
can guarantee that an airbag will not deploy
under some unusual circumstance, even
though it is turned off. We recommend that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in the
rear seat, even if the airbag is off.
If you need to secure a forward-facing child restraint
in the right front seat position, move the seat as far back
as it will go before securing the forward-facing child
restraint. SeePower Seats on page 1-2.
If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH
system, seeLower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH) on page 1-37.
1-46

There is no top tether 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 tether be anchored, or if the instructions that
come with the child restraint say that the top tether must
be anchored. SeeLower Anchors and Tethers for
Children (LATCH) on page 1-37if your child restraint
has a top tether.
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. Your vehicle has a right front passenger’s frontal
airbag. SeePassenger Sensing System on
page 1-59. General Motors recommends that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in a rear seat,
even if the airbag is off. If your child restraint is
forward-facing, move the seat as far back as it
will go before securing the child restraint in this
seat. SeePower Seats on page 1-2.
When the passenger sensing system has turned
off the right front passenger’s frontal airbag,
the off indicator in the passenger airbag status
indicator should light and stay lit when the vehicle
is running. SeePassenger Airbag Status Indicator
on page 3-61.2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
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.
1-47

5. Pull the rest of the shoulder belt all the way out of
the retractor to set the lock.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. 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. You should
not be able to pull more of the belt from the retractor
once the lock has been set.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
8. If the airbag is off, the off indicator in the overhead
console will be lit and stay lit when the vehicle is
running.
1-48

If a child restraint has been installed and the on
indicator is lit, turn the vehicle off. Remove the child
restraint from the vehicle and reinstall the child restraint.
If after reinstalling the child restraint and restarting
the vehicle, the on indicator is still lit, check to make
sure that the vehicle’s seatback is not pressing the child
restraint into the seat cushion. If this happens, slightly
recline the vehicle’s seatback and adjust the seat
cushion if possible. Also make sure the child restraint
is not trapped under the vehicle head restraint.
If this happens, adjust the head restraint.
A thick layer of additional material such as a blanket,
or aftermarket equipment such as seat covers heaters
or massagers, located between the seat cushion and
the child restraint or small occupant, can affect how
the passenger sensing system operates. Remove
any additional material from the seat cushion before
reinstalling/securing the child restraint or small occupant.
If the on indicator is still lit, secure the child in the
child restraint in a rear seat position in the vehicle and
check with your dealer.
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.Airbag System
Your vehicle has six airbags:
A frontal airbag for the driver and another frontal
airbag for the right front passenger.
A seat-mounted side impact airbag for the driver
and another for the right front passenger.
A roof-mounted side impact airbag for the driver
and passenger directly behind the driver.
A roof-mounted side impact airbag for the right front
passenger and the person seated directly behind
that 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.
1-49

{CAUTION:
Both frontal and side impact 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 for airbag ination before
and during a crash. Always wear your safety
belt even with frontal airbags. The driver
should sit as far back as possible while still
maintaining control of the vehicle. Occupants
should not lean on or sleep against the door.
{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 1-26orInfants and
Young Children on page 1-29.
There is an airbag
readiness light on
the instrument panel
cluster, which shows
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 3-60
for more information.
1-51

{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
airbag, the airbag 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. Never secure anything to the
roof of your vehicle by routing the rope or
tie-down through any door or window opening.
If you do, the path of an inating airbag will
be blocked. Do not let seat covers block the
ination path of a side impact airbag. The path
of an inating airbag must be kept clear.
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. Whether your frontal airbags
will or should deploy is not based on how fast your
vehicle is traveling. It depends largely on what you hit,
the direction of the impact and how quickly your
vehicle slows down.
In addition, your vehicle has “dual stage” frontal airbags,
which adjust the restraint according to crash severity.
Your vehicle has electronic frontal sensors, which helps
the sensing system distinguish between a moderate
frontal impact and a more severe frontal impact. For
moderate frontal impacts, these airbags inate at a level
less than full deployment.
1-55

Passenger Sensing System
Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system for the
right front passenger position. The passenger airbag
status indicator will be visible when the vehicle is
running. The words ON and OFF or the symbol for on
and off, will be visible in the overhead console during the
system check. When the system check is complete,
either the word ON or the word OFF, or the symbol for
on or the symbol for off will be visible. SeePassenger
Airbag Status Indicator on page 3-61.
The passenger sensing system will turn off the right
front passenger’s frontal airbag under certain conditions.
The driver’s airbags are not part of the passenger
sensing system.The passenger sensing system works with sensors
that are part of the right front passenger’s seat.
The sensors are designed to detect the presence of
a properly-seated occupant and determine if the
passenger’s frontal airbag should be enabled (may
inate) or not.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat.
We recommend that child restraints be secured in a
rear seat, including an infant riding in a rear-facing infant
seat, a child riding in a forward-facing child seat and
an older child riding in a booster seat.
Passenger
Airbag Status
Indicator – United
States
Passenger
Airbag Status
Indicator – Canada
1-59