2007 CHEVROLET IMPALA airbag off

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 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 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.
22

{CAUTION:
Children who are up against, or very close
to, any airbag when it inates 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.
45

Where to Put the Restraint
Accident statistics show that children are safer
if they are restrained in the rear rather than
the front seat.
We recommend that children be secured in a
rear seat, including: an infant or a child riding
in a rear-facing child restraint; a child riding in a
forward-facing child seat; an older child riding
in a booster seat; and children, who are large
enough, using safety belts.
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 right
front 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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
52

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 52.
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 77and
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator on page 179
for 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 right
front 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.
CAUTION: (Continued)
64

CAUTION: (Continued)
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.
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
Passenger Seat on page 9orPower Seats
on page 9.
If your child restraint has the LATCH system,
seeLower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH) on page 54.
There is no top tether anchor at the right front
seating position. Do not secure a child restraint
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 54if 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 77. We recommend 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
Passenger Seat on page 9orPower Seats
on page 9.
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 you turn the ignition to RUN
or START. SeePassenger Airbag Status
Indicator on page 179.
65

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 on the
instrument panel will be lit and stay lit
when the key is turned to RUN or START.
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.
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.
67

{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 41orInfants and
Young Children on page 43.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 178for more information.
70

What Will You See After an
Airbag Inates?
After a frontal airbag inates, it quickly deates,
so quickly that some people may not even realize
the airbag inated. Roof-mounted side impact
airbags may still be at least partially inated
minutes after the vehicle comes to rest. Some
components of the airbag module — the steering
wheel hub for the driver’s airbag, the instrument
panel for the right front passenger’s airbag, or the
garnish trim and ceiling of your vehicle near
the side windows for vehicles with roof–mounted
side impact airbags — may be hot for a short time.
The parts of the airbag that come into contact
with you may be warm, but not too hot to touch.
There may be some smoke and dust coming from
the vents in the deated airbags. Airbag ination
does not prevent the driver from seeing out of
the windshield or being able to steer the vehicle,
nor does it prevent people from leaving the vehicle.
{CAUTION:
When an airbag inates, there may be
dust in the air. This dust could cause
breathing problems for people with a
history of asthma or other breathing
trouble. To avoid this, everyone in the
vehicle should get out as soon as it is
safe to do so. If you have breathing
problems but cannot get out of the vehicle
after an airbag inates, then get fresh
air by opening a window or a door. If you
experience breathing problems following
an airbag deployment, you should seek
medical attention.
Your vehicle has a feature that may automatically
unlock the doors, turn the interior lamps on,
and turn on the hazard warning ashers when
the airbags inate. You can lock the doors again,
turn the interior lamps off, and turn the hazard
warning ashers off by using the controls for
those features.
76