2007 PONTIAC SOLSTICE Owners Manual

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.
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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 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.
A thick layer of additional material such as a
blanket, or aftermarket equipment such as
seat covers, seat heaters and seat 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 or securing the
child restraint and before a small occupant,
including a small adult, sits in the passenger
position.
If the on indicator is still lit, do not install 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.
Airbag System
Your vehicle has an airbag for the driver and an
airbag for the right front passenger.
Airbags are designed to supplement the protection
provided by safety belts. Even though today’s
airbags are also designed to help reduce the risk
of injury from the force of an inating bag, all
airbags must inate very quickly to do their job.
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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 — 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 “supplemental restraints” to
the safety belts. All airbags are designed
to work with safety belts, but do not
replace them.
{CAUTION:
Airbags are designed to deploy in
moderate to severe frontal and near
frontal crashes. They are not designed to
inate 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 — whether or not
there is an airbag for that person.
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{CAUTION:
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 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 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 27andInfants and Young Children
on page 30.
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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 131for more information.Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s airbag is in the middle of the
steering wheel.
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The right front passenger’s airbag is in the
instrument panel on the passenger’s side.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant
and an airbag, the bag 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.
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When Should an Airbag Inate?
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 help 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. For more severe frontal
impacts, full deployment occurs.If the front of your vehicle goes straight into a wall
that does not move or deform, the threshold level
for the reduced deployment is about 12 to 16 mph
(19 to 26 km/h), and the threshold level for a
full deployment is about 18 to 22 mph (28.9 to
35.4 km/h). The threshold level can vary, however,
with specic vehicle design, so that it can be
somewhat above or below this range.
Frontal airbags may inate at different crash
speeds. For example:
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the
airbags could inate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a moving object.
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could inate 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 inate 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 inate at a different crash
speed than if the vehicle goes straight into
the object.
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Frontal airbags are not intended to inate during
vehicle rollovers, rear impacts, or in many
side impacts.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
airbag should have inated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair
costs were. Ination is determined by what the
vehicle hits, the angle of the impact, and how
quickly the vehicle slows down.
What Makes an Airbag Inate?
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 inator, which inates the airbag.
The inator, 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. The
airbag supplements 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 Inates?
After an airbag inates, it quickly deates, so
quickly that some people may not even realize the
airbag inated. Some components of the airbag
module — the steering wheel hub for the driver’s
airbag or the instrument panel for the right front
passenger’s bag — may be hot for a short time.
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