Restraint System
Important: If the vehicle has been in a collision, refer
to
Repairs and Inspections Required After a Collision
for additional information.
Seat belts are the primary means of occupant restraint.
Seat belts help to keep occupants inside the passenger compartment and gradually
reduce the impact forces during the following events:
| • | Frontal impact type crashes |
| • | Rear impact type crashes |
| • | Side impact type crashes |
All seat belt retractors have emergency locks. The retractors remain unlocked
during normal operation and under normal driving conditions. The retractors remain
unlocked during normal conditions in order to allow free movement of the upper body
of each occupant.
A pendulum locks the seat belt webbing into position. The pendulum causes
a locking bar to engage a cog on the spool of the retractor mechanism when the following
conditions occur:
| • | A rapid extraction of the seat belt webbing from the retractor |
| • | An abrupt change in the vehicle speed |
| • | An abrupt change in the vehicle direction |
| • | Operation of the vehicle on a steep upgrade |
| • | Operation of the vehicle on a steep downgrade |
Front Seat Belt System
The front seat belt system includes a driver and a passenger inflatable restraint
seat belt retractor pretensioner and buckle. For additional information on seat belt
pretensioners, refer to
SIR System Description and Operation
in SIR.
The drivers seat belt system, includes a seat belt switch in the driver seat
buckle which controls a reminder lamp and a tone alarm.
| • | When the driver seat belt is buckled, the drivers door is closed, and
the ignition switch is turned ON, the following events will occur: |
| - | The tone alarm will not operate. |
| - | The reminder lamp will not operate. |
| • | When the drivers seat belt is not buckled, the drivers door is closed,
and the ignition switch is in ON position, the following events will occur: |
| - | The tone alarm will operate for 4-8 seconds and then go OFF. |
| - | The reminder lamp will operate for 20 seconds, until the driver
seat belt is buckled. |
Rear Seat Belt System
The rear seat belt system includes the following components:
| • | The rear seat belt retractor is located under the rear trim panel and
is attached to the rear body pillar. |
| • | The center rear seat belt buckle and the outer seat belt buckle are located
in the center of the seat cushion. |
Child Seat Restraint System
Caution: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured if the right-front
passengers air bag inflates. This is because the back of a rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inflating air bag. NEVER use a rear-facing child restraint
in this vehicle. If a forward-facing child restraint is suitable for your child, ALWAYS
move the front passenger seat as far back as it will go and then install the child
restraint. Be sure the child restraint position does not conflict with any additional
requirements provided by the manufacturer. For more information, refer
to the vehicle owners manual and the instruction that came with the child restraint.
The child seat may only be used in a forward facing seating location. The child
seat should be installed and secured according to the manufacturers directions. If
the child seat has a top strap, the seat will need to be anchored. Passengers should
not be allowed to sit at locations where the seat belts are being used to secure the
child seat.
This seat belt system has an automatic locking feature, or cinch feature. The
cinch feature is recommended for securing a child seat. The cinch feature is engaged
by fully extending the seat belt from the retractor. Once engaged, the seat belt can
retract, but cannot be extended again until the cinch feature is cancelled. The cinch
feature is cancelled when the seat belt has fully retracted.
If a child seat is to be used in the second seat position, a special dealer-installed
anchor must be used in order to anchor the child seat top strap. (This only applies
to the seats designed with the top strap provision and for the vehicles sold in Canada).
In order to ensure the correct top strap angle, the child seat is only to be used
at the seating position for which the top strap anchor is installed.
Fasten Safety Belt Indicator
The IPC illuminates the fasten safety belt indicator when the following occurs:
| • | The body control module (BCM) detects that the drivers seat belt is unbuckled.
The BCM sends a message to the IPC via the serial peripheral interface (SPI) requesting
illumination. The IPC illuminates the indicator for 20 seconds and then flashes
the indicator for 55 seconds. The BCM also sends the GMLAN message to the radio
in order to activate an audible warning. |
| • | The IPC performs the displays test at the start of each ignition cycle
as commanded by the BCM. The indicator illuminates for approximately 3 seconds. |
| • | The IPC detects a loss of SPI communications with the BCM. |
