2008 CADILLAC ESCALADE ESV Owners Manual

Q: What is wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place. { CAUTION: You can be seriously injured if your belt is
buckled in the wrong place like this. In a crash,
the belt would go up over your abdomen. The
belt forces would be there, not on the pelvic
bones. This could cause serious internal
injuries. Always buckle your belt into the
buckle nearest you.
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Q: What is wrong with this?
A: The belt is over an armrest. { CAUTION: You can be seriously injured if your belt goes
over an armrest like this. The belt would be
much too high. In a crash, you can slide under
the belt. The belt force would then be applied
on the abdomen, not on the pelvic bones, and
that could cause serious or fatal injuries. Be
sure the belt goes under the armrests.
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Q: What is wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be worn over the shoulder at all times. { CAUTION: You can be seriously injured if you wear the
shoulder belt under your arm. In a crash, your
body would move too far forward, which would
increase the chance of head and neck injury.
Also, the belt would apply too much force to
the ribs, which are not as strong as shoulder
bones. You could also severely injure internal
organs like your liver or spleen. The shoulder
belt should go over the shoulder and across
the chest.
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Q: What is wrong with this?
A: The belt is behind the body. { CAUTION: You can be seriously injured by not wearing
the lap-shoulder belt properly. In a crash, you
would not be restrained by the shoulder belt.
Your body could move too far forward
increasing the chance of head and neck injury.
You might also slide under the lap belt. The
belt force would then be applied right on the
abdomen. That could cause serious or fatal
injuries. The shoulder belt should go over the
shoulder and across the chest.
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Q: What is wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body. { CAUTION: You can be seriously injured by a twisted belt.
In a crash, you would not have the full width of
the belt to spread impact forces. If a belt is
twisted, make it straight so it can work
properly, or ask your dealer/retailer to x it.
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Lap-Shoulder Belt All seating positions in your vehicle have a lap-shoulder
except for the center front passenger position, if your
vehicle has one, which has a lap belt. See Lap Belt on
page 1-48 for more information.
Here is how to wear a lap-shoulder belt properly.
1. Adjust the seat, if the seat is adjustable, so you can
sit up straight. To see how, see “Seats” in the
Index.
2. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you.
Do not let it get twisted.
The lap-shoulder belt may lock if you pull the belt
across you very quickly. If this happens, let the belt
go back slightly to unlock it. Then pull the belt
across you more slowly.
If you ever pull the shoulder portion of a passenger
belt out all the way, you may engage the child
restraint locking feature. If this happens, just let the
belt go back all the way and start again.
Engaging the child restraint locking feature may
affect the passenger sensing system. See
Passenger Sensing System on page 1-85 . 3. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks. If
you nd that the latch plate will not go fully into the
buckle, see if you are using the correct buckle.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure.
If the belt is not long enough, see Safety Belt
Extender on page 1-49 .
Make sure the release button on the buckle is
positioned so you would be able to unbuckle the
safety belt quickly if necessary.
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4. If equipped with a shoulder belt height adjuster,
move it to the height that is right for you. Improper
shoulder belt height adjustment could reduce
the effectiveness of the safety belt in a crash. See
“Shoulder Belt Height Adjustment” later in this
section.
5. To make the lap part tight, pull up on the
shoulder belt.
It may be necessary to pull stitching on the safety
belt through the latch plate to fully tighten the
lap belt on smaller occupants. To unlatch the belt, push the button on the buckle. The
belt should go back out of the way.
Before you close a door, be sure the belt is out of the
way. If you slam the door on it, you can damage
both the belt and your vehicle.
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Shoulder Belt Height Adjuster Your vehicle has a shoulder belt height adjuster for the
driver and right front passenger position.
Adjust the height so that the shoulder portion of the belt
is centered on your shoulder. The belt should be
away from your face and neck, but not falling off your
shoulder. Improper shoulder belt height adjustment
could reduce the effectiveness of the safety belt
in a crash.
To move it down, squeeze
the buttons (A) on the
sides of the height adjuster
and move the height
adjuster to the desired
position.
You can move the adjuster up just by pushing up on the
shoulder belt guide.
After you move the adjuster to where you want it, try to
move it down without squeezing the buttons to make
sure it has locked into position. Safety Belt Pretensioners Your vehicle has safety belt pretensioners for front
outboard occupants. Although you cannot see them,
they are part of the safety belt assembly. They can help
tighten the safety belts during the early stages of a
moderate to severe frontal, near frontal, or rear crash if
the threshold conditions for pretensioner activation
are met. And, if your vehicle has side impact airbags,
safety belt pretensioners can help tighten the safety
belts in a side crash or a rollover event.
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. See Replacing
Restraint System Parts After a Crash on page 1-93 .
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides Rear shoulder belt comfort guides may provide added
safety belt comfort for older children who have outgrown
booster seats and for some adults. When installed on
a shoulder belt, the comfort guide positions the belt
away from the neck and head.
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