2006 PONTIAC GTO Owners Manual

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
see
Lower 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.
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
If your child restraint is equipped with the LATCH
system, seeLower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH) on page 1-37.
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. See
Lower Anchors and Tethers
for Children (LATCH) on page 1-37if the child restraint
has a top tether.
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Your vehicle has a right front passenger's 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 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.
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 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's
airbag, always move the seat as far back as it will
go before securing a forward-facing child restraint.
See
Power Seats on page 1-2.
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.
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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. 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 an airbag for the driver and an airbag
for the right front passenger.
Frontal airbags are designed to help reduce the risk of
injury from the force of an in¯ating frontal airbag.
But these airbags must in¯ate 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 Ð 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 ªsupplemental restraintsº to
the safety belts. Airbags are designed to work
with safety belts, but do not replace them.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
Airbags are designed to deploy in moderate to
severe frontal and near frontal crashes. They
are not designed to in¯ate in rollover, rear
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 Ð whether or not there is
an airbag for that person.
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{CAUTION:
Airbags in¯ate with great force, faster than the
blink of an eye. If you are too close to an
in¯ating 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 in¯ates 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
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
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,
see
Older Children on page 1-25andInfants
and Young Children on page 1-28
.
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. See
Airbag Readiness Light on page 3-25for more information.
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Where Are the Airbags?
The driver's airbag is in the middle of the steering
wheel.The right front passenger's airbag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger's side.
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{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
airbag, the bag might not in¯ate properly or it
might force the object into that person causing
severe injury or even death. The path of an
in¯ating 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 In¯ate?
The driver's and right front passenger's frontal airbags
are designed to in¯ate in moderate to severe frontal
or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to in¯ate
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 in¯ate and help
restrain the occupants. Whether your frontal airbags
will or should deploy is not based on how fast yourvehicle is traveling. It depends largely on what you hit,
the direction of the impact and how quickly your
vehicle slows down.
If 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 speci®c vehicle design, so that it can
be somewhat above or below this range.)
Frontal airbags may in¯ate at different crash speeds.
For example:
·If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbags
could in¯ate at a different crash speed than if the
vehicle hits a moving object.
·If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could in¯ate at a different crash speed than
if the vehicle hits an object that does not deform.
·If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole) the
airbags could in¯ate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a wide object (like a wall).
·If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle the
airbags could in¯ate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle goes straight into the object.
The frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger) are
not intended to in¯ate during vehicle rollovers, rear
impacts, or in many side impacts.
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In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
airbag should have in¯ated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs
were. In¯ation is determined by what the vehicle hits,
the angle of the impact, and how quickly the vehicle
slows down in frontal and near-frontal impacts.
What Makes an Airbag In¯ate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. The
sensing system triggers a release of gas from the
in¯ator, which in¯ates the airbag. The in¯ator, airbag,
and related hardware are all part of the airbag modules
inside the steering wheel and in the instrument panel
in front of the right front passenger.
How Does an Airbag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel. Airbags supplement the protection
provided by safety belts. Airbags distribute the force
of the impact more evenly over the occupant's upper
body, stopping the occupant more gradually.But airbags 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 airbags. Airbags 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 Airbag
In¯ates?
After the airbag in¯ates, it quickly de¯ates, so quickly
that some people may not even realize the airbag
in¯ated. Some components of the airbag module will be
hot for a short time. These components include the
steering wheel hub for the driver's frontal airbag and the
instrument panel for the right front passenger's frontal
airbag. 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 de¯ated airbags. Airbag in¯ation 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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