Chevrolet 1970 Owner's Manual page 39

Shoulder belts are fastened and re-
leased in the same manner as lap belts.
A shoulder belt should not be uncom-
fortably tight. A fist's width between
your chest and the belt should provide
sufficient slack. This can be checked
by inserting a clenched fist between
the belt and your chest with thumb
against chest and back of hand facing
upward.
CAUTION: The driver's shoulder belt
should be adjusted
so
the driver can reach
essential operating controls without undue
restraint.
When not in use, shoulder belts
should be secured in the special stor-
age convenience provision. This is to
reduce the danger of the metal end
striking an occupant in a sudden stop.
When storage provisions are not pro-
vided, the loose end mounted on the
upper structure should be fastened to
the floor-mounted end, and adjusted
to remove excess slack.
Passengers in the rear seat of a con-
vertible must remove their shoulder
belts (optional) BEFORE the top is
lowered. The shoulder belt will re-
quire adjustment after the top has
been either lowered or raised.
Releasing Belts - To release the belts,
simply depress the release tab or but-
ton located in the center of the buckle.
Seat Belt Inspection
and Care
Keep the belts clean and dry. Clean
with a mild soap solution and luke-
warm water. Keep sharp edges and
damaging objects away from belts.
Periodically inspect belts, buckles,
retractors, and anchors for damage
that could lessen the effectiveness of
the restraint system, and haveques-
36
tionable parts replaced. Seat belts
should be replaced if cut, weakened,
frayed, or subjected to collision loads.
During seat belt inspection, check that
anchor mounting bolts are tight to the
floor. Do not bleach or dye belts since
this may cause severe loss of strength.
Pre-Collision Positioning
If in addition to wearing seat belts,
a person can "pre-position" his body
to get ready for a frontal impact, the
severity of his impact with the vehi-
cle interior can be reduced by a con-
siderable amount. If a severe accident
threatens, the "pre-positioning" tech-
nique calls for reducing the space be-
tween one's body and the vehicle
interior as much as possible. Practice
beforehand in assuming the proper
position may make its employment
automatic in an accident situation.
A driver wearing both lap and
shoulder belt should lean forward
into the restraint system, grip the
upper rim of the steering wheel with
both hands, and rest the arms on the
steering wheel rim with elbows out.
Control of the vehicle can be main-
tained until the last possible moment;