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 youcan
unbuckle and get out, ismuchgreater if you are
belted.
Q:If my vehicle has airbags, why should I have to
wear safety belts?
A:Airbags are in many vehicles today and will be in
most of them in the future. But they are supplemental
systems only; so they workwithsafety belts — not
instead of them. Every airbag system ever offered
for sale has required the use of safety belts. Even if
you’re in a vehicle that has airbags, 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.
1-9
{CAUTION:
People should never hold a baby in their arms
while riding in a vehicle. A baby does not
weigh much — until a crash. During a crash a
baby will become so heavy it is not possible
to hold it. For example, in a crash at only
25 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.
{CAUTION:
Children who are up against, or very close to,
any airbag when it in ates can be seriously
injured or killed. Airbags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer protection for adults and older
children, 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.
1-21
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Passenger Seat Position
Your vehicle has a right front passenger airbag.
In addition, your vehicle has the 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 1-40
andPassenger Airbag Status Indicator on page 3-52
for more information on this including important
safety information.
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s airbag in ates. This is because
the back of the rear facing child restraint would
be very close to the in ating airbag. Be sure
the airbag is off before using a rear-facing child
restraint in the passenger’s position.
Even though the passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the passenger’s frontal
airbag and side impact airbag (if equipped) 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 transported in vehicles with a
rear seat that will accommodate a rear-facing
child restraint, whenever possible.
1-28
If you need to secure a forward-facing child restraint in
the passenger’s position, move the seat as far back
as it will go before securing the forward-facing
child restraint. SeePower Seats on page 1-2.
There is no top tether anchor at the passenger’s seating
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 1-27.
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 1-40. 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 started.
SeePassenger Airbag Status Indicator on
page 3-52.
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.
1-29
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 inside
rearview mirror will be lit and stay lit when the
vehicle is started.
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.
If the on indicator is still lit, do not secure a child
restraint in this 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.
1-31