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 is why
safety belts make such good sense.
Questions and Answers About
Safety Belts
Q:Will I be trapped in the vehicle after an accident
if I am wearing a safety belt?
A:Youcouldbe — whether you are wearing a safety
belt or not. But you can unbuckle a safety belt,
even if you are upside down. And your chance of
being conscious during and after an accident,
so youcanunbuckle 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 workwith
safety belts — not instead of them. Every airbag
system ever offered for sale has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you are in a vehicle that has
airbags, you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That is true not only in frontal collisions,
but especially in side and other collisions.
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Safety Belt Pretensioners
Your vehicle has safety belt pretensioners. Although
you cannot see them, they are located on the retractor
part of the safety belts for the driver and right front
passenger. They help the safety belts reduce a person’s
forward movement in a moderate to severe frontal or
near frontal crash.
If the passenger sensing system detects that there is
not a passenger in the right front passenger position,
the safety belt pretensioner for that position will not
activate. SeePassenger Sensing System on page 1-59.
Pretensioners work only once. If they activate in a
crash, you will need to get new ones, and probably other
new parts for your safety belt system. SeeReplacing
Restraint System Parts After a Crash on page 1-67.
Safety Belt Extender
If the vehicle’s safety belt will fasten around you,
you should use it.
But if a safety belt is not long enough, your dealer
will order you an extender. It is free. When you go
in to order it, take the heaviest coat you will wear,
so the extender will be long enough for you.To help avoid personal injury, do not let someone else
use it, and use it only for the seat it is made to t.
The extender has been designed for adults. Never use
it for securing child seats. To wear it, just attach it to
the regular safety belt. For more information see
the instruction sheet that comes with the extender.
Always disconnect the extender from the safety belt after
you use it so that the airbag will work properly the
next time someone uses that seat.
When you use a safety belt extender in the right front
passenger’s seat, make sure the passenger airbag status
indicator shows “ON”. SeePassenger Airbag Status
Indicator on page 3-29. If the indicator shows “OFF”,
disconnect the extender’s latch from the buckle then
reconnect the safety belt. Make sure the indicator light
shows “ON”, then reconnect the safety belt extender. If
you use the safety belt extender while the indicator light
shows “OFF”, the right front passenger’s frontal and
seat-mounted side impact airbags (if equipped) may not
activate correctly. SeeAirbag System on page 1-49for
important safety information about your airbags.
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{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.
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Where to Put the Restraint
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat.
General Motors recommends 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.
Your vehicle has a rear seat that will accommodate
a rear-facing child restraint. 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 in ates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the in ating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the passenger’s frontal
airbag and seat-mounted side impact airbag
(if equipped) under certain conditions, 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. General Motors recommends 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, always move
the front passenger seat as far back as it will
go. It is better to secure the child restraint in a
rear seat.
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Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat Position
Your vehicle has a right front passenger’s 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 the passenger sensing
system. The passenger sensing system is designed to
turn off the right front passenger’s frontal airbag and
seat-mounted side impact airbag (if equipped) when a
child in a child restraint or booster seat is detected.
SeePassenger Sensing System on page 1-59
andPassenger Airbag Status Indicator on page 3-29
for more information about the conditions that could
affect the passenger sensing system and other 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 in ates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the in ating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the passenger’s frontal
airbag and seat-mounted side impact airbag
(if equipped) under certain conditions, 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. General Motors recommends that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in the
rear seat, even if the airbag is off.
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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. SeeManual 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.
There is no top tether anchor at the right front 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 1-37if the 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 airbags. 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. SeeManual Seats on page 1-2.
When the passenger sensing system has turned off
the right front passenger’s frontal airbag and
seat-mounted side impact airbag (if equipped),
the off indicator in the passenger airbag status
indicator should light and stay lit when you turn the
ignition to ON. SeePassenger Airbag Status
Indicator on page 3-29.
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.
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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. 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 passenger sensing system has turned off
the right front passenger’s frontal airbag and
seat-mounted side impact airbag (if equipped),
the off indicator in the passenger airbag status
indicator will be lit and stay lit when the key
is turned to ON.
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
with the ignition key in the ACC or LOCK position.
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.
1-48
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.
If the airbag readiness light and the OFF light in the
passenger airbag status indicator come on together,
it may mean there is a malfunction in the passenger
sensing system. 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 a frontal airbag for the driver and a
frontal airbag for the right front passenger. Your vehicle
may also have the following airbags:
A seat-mounted side impact airbag for the driver
A seat-mounted side impact airbag for the right front
passenger
A roof-mounted side impact airbag for the driver
and the passenger seated directly behind the
driver
A roof-mounted side impact airbag for the right front
passenger and the passenger seated directly
behind that passenger
If your vehicle has seat-mounted side impact airbags,
it will say SRS-SIDE AIRBAG on a label on the
side of the driver’s and right front passenger’s seat
closest to the door.
If your vehicle has roof-mounted side impact airbags,
it will say SRS CURTAIN AIRBAG on the trim on
the side of the windshield.
1-49