Chevrolet Cruze Repair Manual: Restraint System

Note: If the vehicle has been in a collision, refer to Repairs and Inspections Required After a Collision for additional information.

Vehicle has front and rear seat belts that are the primary means of occupant restraint. Seat belts help to keep the occupants inside the passenger compartment and to gradually reduce the impact forces during the following events:

• Frontal impact type crashes
• Rear impact type crashes
• Side impact type crashes
• Roll-over 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 vehicle speed
• An abrupt change in vehicle direction
• Operation of the vehicle on a steep upgrade
• Operation of the vehicle on a downgrade

The seat belts have an automatic locking (cinch) feature. The cinch feature is activated when the seat belt webbing is completely extended from the retractor. The cinch feature prevents the webbing from extending beyond the position from which it is allowed to retract. Use of the cinch feature is recommended for securing a child seat. The cinch feature may be cancelled by allowing the webbing to wind back completely into the retractor. After the cinch feature is cancelled, the webbing is unlocked. After the cinch feature is cancelled, the webbing will extend from the retractor. This vehicle is also equipped with a supplemental inflatable restraint (SIR) system. Refer to SIR System Description and Operation.