Oldsmobile Cutlass (1999 year). Manual - part 3

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If the belt stops before it reaches the buckle, tilt the
latch plate and keep pulling until you can buckle it.

Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure.

If the belt is not long enough, see “Safety Belt
Extender” at the end of this section. Make sure the
release button on the buckle is positioned so you
would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if
you ever had to.

3. To make the lap part tight, pull down on the buckle

end of the belt as you pull up on the shoulder part.

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The lap part of the belt should be worn low and snug on
the hips, just touching the thighs. In a crash, this applies
force to the strong pelvic bones. And you’d be less likely
to slide under the lap belt. If you slid under it, the belt 

would apply force at your abdomen. This could cause
serious or even fatal injuries. The shoulder belt should go
over the shoulder and across the chest. These parts of the
body are best able to take belt restraining forces.

The safety belt locks if there’s a sudden stop or a crash,
or if you pull the belt very quickly out of the retractor.

CAUTION:

You can be seriously hurt if your shoulder belt is
too loose. In a crash, you would move forward
too much, which could increase injury. The
shoulder belt should fit against your body.

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To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.

Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults

Rear shoulder belt comfort guides will provide added
safety belt comfort for children who have outgrown
child restraints and for small adults. When installed on a
shoulder belt, the comfort guide pulls the belt away
from the neck and head.

There is one guide for each outside passenger position in
the rear seat. To provide added safety belt comfort for
children who have outgrown child restraints and for
smaller adults, the comfort guides may be installed on
the shoulder belts. Here’s how to install a comfort guide
and use the safety belt:

1. Pull the elastic cord out from between the edge of

the seatback and the interior body to remove the
guide from its storage clip.

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2. Slide the guide under and past the belt. The elastic

cord must be under the belt. Then, place the guide
over the belt, and insert the two edges of the belt into
the slots of the guide.

3. Be sure that the belt is not twisted and it lies flat. 

The elastic cord must be under the belt and the guide
on top.

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4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as

described in “Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions”
earlier in this section. Make sure that the shoulder
belt crosses the shoulder.

To remove and store the comfort guides, squeeze the
belt edges together so that you can take them out from
the guides. Pull the guide upward to expose its storage
clip, and then slide the guide onto the clip. Rotate the
guide and clip inward and in between the seatback and
the interior body, leaving only the loop of elastic 
cord exposed.

Center Passenger Position

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Lap Belt

When you sit in the center seating position, you have a
lap safety belt, which has no retractor. To make the belt
longer, tilt the latch plate and pull it along the belt.

To make the belt shorter, pull its free end as shown until
the belt is snug.

Buckle, position and release it the same way as the lap
part of a lap

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shoulder belt. If the belt isn’t long enough,

see “Safety Belt Extender” at the end of this section.

Make sure the release button on the buckle is positioned
so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly
if you ever had to.

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Children

Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
infants and all children smaller than adult size. Neither
the distance traveled nor the age and size of the traveler
changes the need, for everyone, to use safety restraints.
In fact, the law in every state in the United States and in
every Canadian province says children up to some age
must be restrained while in a vehicle.

Smaller Children and Babies

CAUTION:

Children who are up against, or very close to, any
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. This is true even though your vehicle
has Next Generation frontal air bags. Air bags
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 air bag 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.

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CAUTION:

Smaller children and babies should always be
restrained in a child or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint will say whether it is
the right type and size for your child. A very
young child’s hip bones are so small that a
regular belt might not stay low on the hips, as it
should. Instead, the belt will likely be over the
child’s abdomen. In a crash, the belt would apply
force right on the child’s abdomen, which could
cause serious or fatal injuries. So, be sure that
any child small enough for one is always properly
restrained in a child or infant restraint.

Infants need complete support, including support for the
head and neck. This is necessary because an infant’s neck
is weak and its head weighs so much compared with the
rest of its body. In a frontal crash, an infant in a rear

-

facing

restraint settles into the restraint, so the crash forces can be
distributed across the strongest part of the infant’s body,
the back and shoulders. A baby should be secured in an
appropriate infant restraint. This is so important that many
hospitals today won’t release a newborn infant to its
parents unless there is an infant restraint available for the
baby’s first trip in a motor vehicle.

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CAUTION:

Never hold a baby in your arms while riding in a
vehicle. A baby doesn’t weigh much 

--

 until a

crash. During a crash a baby will become so
heavy you can’t hold it. For example, in a crash

CAUTION: (Continued)

CAUTION: (Continued)

at only 25 mph (40 km/h), a 12

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lb. (5.5 kg) baby

will suddenly become a 240

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lb. (110 kg) force on

your arms. The baby would be almost impossible
to hold.

Secure the baby in an infant restraint.

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Child Restraints

Every time infants and young children ride in 
vehicles, they should have protection provided by
appropriate restraints.

Q:

What are the different types of add

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on 

child restraints?

A:

Add

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on child restraints are available in four basic

types. When selecting a child restraint, take into
consideration not only the child’s weight and size,
but also whether or not the restraint will be
compatible with the motor vehicle in which it will
be used.

An infant car bed (A) is a special bed made for use
in a motor vehicle. It’s an infant restraint system
designed to restrain or position a child on a
continuous flat surface. With an infant car bed,
make sure that the infant’s head rests toward the
center of the vehicle.

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A rear

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facing infant restraint (B) positions an infant

to face the rear of the vehicle. Rear

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facing infant

restraints are designed for infants of up to about 
20 lbs. (9 kg) and about one year of age. This type
of restraint faces the rear so that the infant’s head,
neck and body can have the support they need in a
frontal crash. Some infant seats come in two 
parts 

--

 the base stays secured in the vehicle and

the seat part is removable.

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A forward

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facing child restraint (C

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E) positions a

child upright to face forward in the vehicle. These
forward

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facing restraints are designed to help

protect children who are from 20 to 40 lbs. (9 to 
18 kg) and about 26 to 40 inches (66 to 102 cm) in
height, or up to around four years of age. One type,
a convertible restraint, is designed to be used either
as a rear

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facing infant seat or a forward

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facing

child seat.

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A booster seat (F, G) is designed for children who
are about 40 to 60 lbs., or even up to 80 lbs. (18 to
27 kg, or even up to 36 kg), and about four to eight
years of age. A booster seat is designed to improve
the fit of the vehicle’s safety belt system. Booster
seats with shields use lap

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only belts; however,

booster seats without shields use lap

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shoulder belts.

Booster seats can also help a child to see out 
the window.

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When choosing a child restraint, be sure the child
restraint is designed to be used in a vehicle. If it is, it
will have a label saying that it meets federal motor
vehicle safety standards.

Then follow the instructions for the restraint. You may
find these instructions on the restraint itself or in a
booklet, or both. These restraints use the belt system in
your vehicle, but the child also has to be secured within
the restraint to help reduce the chance of personal injury.
The instructions that come with the infant or child
restraint will show you how to do that. Both the owner’s
manual and the child restraint instructions are important,
so if either one of these is not available, obtain a
replacement copy from the manufacturer.

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 at
General Motors therefore recommend that you put your
child restraint in the rear seat. Never put a rear

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facing

child restraint in the front passenger seat. Here’s why:

CAUTION:

A child in a rear

-

facing child restraint can be

seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s air bag inflates, even though your
vehicle has Next Generation frontal air bags. This
is because the back of the rear

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facing child

restraint would be very close to the inflating air
bag. Always secure a rear

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facing child restraint

in a rear seat.

You may secure a forward

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facing child restraint

in the right front seat, but before you do, always
move the front passenger seat as far back as it
will go. It’s better to secure the child restraint in
a rear seat.

Wherever you install it, be sure to secure the child
restraint properly.

Keep in mind that an unsecured child restraint can move
around in a collision or sudden stop and injure people in
the vehicle. Be sure to properly secure any child
restraint in your vehicle 

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 even when no child is in it.

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Top Strap

Canadian law requires that forward

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facing 

child restraints have a top strap, and that the strap 
be anchored.

If your child restraint has a top strap, it should be
anchored. If you need to have an anchor installed, your
dealer can obtain a kit with anchor hardware and
installation instructions specifically designed for this
vehicle. The dealer can then install the anchor for you.

This work will be done for you free of charge. Or, you
may install the anchor yourself using the instructions
provided in the kit.

Securing a Child Restraint in a Rear
Outside Seat Position

You’ll be using the lap

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shoulder belt. See the earlier part

about the top strap if the child restraint has one. 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. Put the restraint on the seat.

2. 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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Tilt the latch plate to adjust the belt if needed.

If the shoulder belt goes in front of the child’s face or
neck, put it behind the child restraint.

3. 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.