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Driver Position
This part describes the driver’s restraint system.
Lap-Shoulder Belt
The driver has a lap-shoulder belt. Here’s how to wear it properly.
1. Close and lock the door.
2. Adjust the seat (to see how, see “Seats” in the Index) so you can sit up
straight.
3. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you. Don’t let the belt
4. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks. Pull up on the latch
plate to make sure it is secure.
If the belt isn’t long enough, see “Safety Belt Extender’’ at the end of
this section. get twisted.
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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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 bhdy are best able to take belt restraining forces.
The safety belt locks if there’s a sudden stop or a crash.
Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The shoulder belt is too loose. It won’t give nearly as much protection
this way.
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Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
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Q: What's wrong with this?
A: The belt is over an armrest.
I I
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Q: What’s wrong with this?
8
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should be worn over the
shoulder
at all times.
A CAUTION:
You can be seriously injured if you wear the shoulder belt under
your am. 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 aren’t as
strong as shoulder bones. You could also severely injure internal
organs like your liver or spleen.
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Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body.
To unlatch the belt,
just push the button on
the buckle. The belt should
go back out of
the way.
Before you close the 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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Supplemental Inflatable Restraint System
(SW
This part explains the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint (SIR) system, or air
bag.
Your vehicle may have an air bag for the driver. If it does, it will say
Supplemental Inflatable Restraint
on the middle part of the steering wheel.
Here are the most important things
to know about the air bag system:
A CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash if you aren’t
wearing your safety belt
- even if you have an air bag. Wearing
your safety belt during a crash helps reduce your chance of
hitting things inside the vehicle or being ejected from it. The air
bag is only a “supplemental restraint.” That is,
it works with
safety belts but doesn’t replace them.
Air bags are designed to
work only in moderate to severe crashes where the front of your
vehicle hits something. They aren’t designed to inflate at all in
rollover, rear, side, or low-speed frontal crashes. Everyone in
your vehicle, including the driver, should wear a safety belt
properly
- whether or not there’s an air bag for that person.
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A CAUTION:
Air bags inflate with great force, faster than the blink of an eye.
If you’re too close to an inflating air bag, it could seriously
injure you. Safety belts help keep you in position for an air bag
inflation in a crash. Always wear your safety belt, even with
an
air bag, and sit as far back as you can while still maintaining
control of your vehicle.
There is an air bag readiness light on the instrument panel, which shows
AIR BAG. The system checks the air bag‘s electrical system for
malfunctions.
The light tells you if there is an electrical problem. See “Air
Bag Readiness Light” in the index for more information.
How the Air Bag System Works
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