1997 TOYOTA T100 Owners Manual

23
CAUTION!
Always make sure the shoulder belt
is positioned across the center of
your shoulder. The belt should be
kept away from your neck, but not
falling off your shoulder. Failure to
do so could reduce the amount of
protection in an accident and cause
severe injuries in a collision.
Adjust the position of the lap and
shoulder belts Position the lap belt as low as possible on
your hipsÐnot your waist, then adjust it to
a snug fit by pulling the shoulder portion
upward through the latch plate.
CAUTION!
High-positioned lap belts and
loose-fitting belts both could cause severe injuries due to slid-
ing under the lap belt during a colli-
sion. Keep the lap belt positioned
as low on hips as possible
For your safety, do not place the
shoulder belt under your arm.

24
To release the belt, press the buckle-
release button and allow the belt to re- tract.
If the belt does not retract smoothly, pull
it out and check for kinks or twists. Then make sure it remains untwisted as it re- tracts.Sit up straight and well back in the
seat. To fasten your belt, insert the tab
into the buckle.
You will hear a click when the tab locks into the buckle.
If the belt is not long enough for you, hold the tab at a right angle to the belt and pull
on the tab.
CAUTION!
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and that the belt is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact
your Toyota dealer. Do not use the
seat until the seat belt is fixed. It cannot protect an adult occupant
or your child from injury.
ÐCenter seat belt

25
Remove excess length of the belt and adjust the belt position.
To shorten the belt, pull the free end of thebelt. Position the lap belt as low as possible on your hipsÐnot on your waist. then adjustit to a snug fit.
CAUTION!
High-positioned and loose-fitting
lap belts could increase the chance
of injury due to sliding under the lap
belt during an accident. Keep the lap
belt positioned as low on your hip
bone as possible.
To release the belt, press the buckle- release button.The front center seat belt can be
stowed in the seat side pocket when
not in use.
ÐStowing the front center
seat belt (split bench seat)

26
The rear seat belts can be stowed
when not in use.
Seat belts must be stowed before you
raise the bottom cushion. (See Rear
seatsº in this chapter.)If your seat belt cannot be fastened se- curely because it is not long enough, a
personalized seat belt extender is avail-
able from your Toyota dealer free of charge.
Please contact your local Toyota dealer
so that the dealer can order the proper re-
quired length for the extender. Bring the heaviest
coat you expect to wear for prop-
er measurement and selection of length.
Additional ordering information is avail-
able at yout Toyota dealer.
CAUTION!
When using the seat belt extender,
observe the following. Failure to fol-
low these instructions could result
in less effectiveness of the seat belt
restraint system in case of vehicle accident, increasing the chance of
personal injury. Never use the seat belt extender if
you can fasten the seat belt with-
out it.
Remember that the extender pro-
vided for you may not be safe when
used on a different vehicle, or for
another person or at a different
seating position than the one origi-
nally intended for.
ÐSeat belt extender
ÐStowing the rear center
seat belts (Xtra-cab models)

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To connect the extender to the seat
belt, insert the tab into the seat belt
buckle so that the PRESSº signs onthe buckle-release buttons of the ex-
tender and the seat belt are both facing
outward as shown.
You will hear a click when the tab locks into the buckle.
When releasing the seat belt, press on the
buckle-release button on the extender, not on the seat belt. This helps prevent
damage to the vehicle interior and extend-er itself.
When not in use, remove the extender
and store in the vehicle for future use.
CAUTION!
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the seat belt extender is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact
your Toyota dealer. Do not use the
seat until the seat belt is fixed. It cannot protect an adult occupant
or your child from injury.
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) airbag is designed to provide fur-
ther protection to the driver when add-
ed to the primary protection providedby the seat belt.
In response to a severe frontal impact, the
SRS airbag works together with the seat
belt to help preventing or reduce injury byinflating, in order to decrease the likeli-
hood of the driver's head or chest directly hitting the steering wheel.
SRS airbag

28
This indicator comes on when the
ignition key is turned to the ACCº or
ONº position. It goes off after about 6
seconds. This means the SRS airbag
is operating properly.
The SRS airbag warning light system
monitors the front airbag sensors, inflat- ors, warning light, interconnecting wiring
and power sources.The SRS airbag system is designed to
activate in response to a severe frontal
impact within the shaded area be-
tween the arrows in the illustration.
The SRS airbags will deploy if the severity
of the impact is above the designed
threshold level, comparable to an approxi-
mate 20 km/h (14 mph) collision when im-
pacting straight into a fixed barrier that
does not move or deform.
If the severity of the impact is below the
above threshold level, the SRS airbag
may not deploy. However, this threshold velocity will be
considerably higher if the vehicle strikes
an object, such as a parked vehicle or sign
pole, which can move or deform on im-
pact, or if it is
involved in an underride col-
lision (e.g. a collision in which the noise of
the vehicle underridesº, or goes under, the bed of a truck).
For the safety of all occupants, be sure to
always wear your seat belts.

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The SRS airbag is not designed to in-
flate if the vehicle is subjected to a side
or rear impact, if it rolls over, or if it is
involved in a low-speed frontal colli-sion.The center airbag sensor assembly con-
sists of a safing sensor and center airbag
sensor.
In a severe frontal impact, sensor detects
deceleration and the system triggers the
airbag inflator. Then a chemical reaction
in the inflator momentarily fills the airbag
with non-toxic nitrogen gas to help re-
strain the forward motion of the driver. When the airbag inflates, it produces a fairly loud noise and releases some
smoke along with the nitrogen gas. This is
not harmful and does not indicate a fire.
Be sure to wash off any residue as soon
as possible to prevent minor skin irritation. Deployment of the airbag happens in a
fraction of a
second, so the airbag must in-
flate with considerable force. While the
system is designed to reduce serious inju-
ries, it may also cause minor burns or
abrasions and swellings.
The steering wheel hub may be hot for
several minutes, but the airbag itself will
not be hot. The airbag is designed to in-
flate only once.
CAUTION!
The SRS airbag system is designed
only as a supplement to the primary
protection of the seat belt system of
the driver. The driver is particularly susceptible to injury if he/she does
not wear his/her seat belt; when sud- den braking or a collision occurs, he/
she may be thrown forward. To ob-
tain a maximum protection in an ac-
cident, the driver and all passengers
in the vehicle should always wear
their seat belts when driving be- cause serious injuries can result to
unrestrained occupants. For instruc-
tions and precautions concerning
the seat belt system, see Seat beltsº
in this chapter.

30
CAUTION!
Do not put objects on the steering
wheel pad. They might restrict infla-
tion or cause serious injury as they
are projected rearward.
Do not modify, remove or open any
component or wiring, such as the
steering wheel, column cover, cen- ter airbag sensor assembly or front
airbag sensors. Doing any of these
may cause sudden SRS airbag infla-
tion or disable the system, which
could result in personal injury.
Failure to follow these instructions
can result in severe injuries.
NOTICE
Do not perform any of the following changes without consulting your
Toyota dealer. Such changes can interfere with proper operation ofthe SRS airbag system in some cases.
Installation of electronic itemssuch as a mobile two-way radio,
cassette tape player or compactdisc player
Modification of the suspensionsystem
Modification of the front end
structure
Attachment of a grille guard (bullbar, kangaroo bar, etc.), snow-
plow winches or any other equip-ment to the front end
Repairs made on or nearthe frontfenders, the front end structure,
console, steering column or steer-
ing wheel
This SRS airbag system has a service re-
minder indicator to inf orm the driver of op-
erating problems. If either of the following
conditions occurs, this indicates a mal-
function of the airbags. Contact your To-
yota dealer as soon as possible to service
the vehicle. The light does not come on when the
ignition key is turned to the ACCº or
ONº position, or remains on.
The light comes on while driving.