1997 TOYOTA TERCEL belt

25
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. Fail-
ure to do so could reduce the
amount of protection in an acci-
dent 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 hips-not on 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 col-
lision. Keep the lap belt positioned
as low on hips as possible.
For your safety, do not place the
shoulder belt under your arm.

26
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 nicks 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.
ÐRear center seat belt

27
Remove excess length of the belt and adjust the belt position.
To shorten the belt, pull the free end of the belt. 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 cause severe inju- ries due to sliding under the lap belt
during a collision. Keep the lap belt
positioned as low on hips as pos- sible.
To release the belt, press the buckle-
release button. 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 your 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 vehicleaccident, increasing the chance of
personal injury. Never use the seat belt extender if
you can fasten the seat belt with-
out it.
ÐSeat belt extender

28
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.
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.

29
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) airbags are designed to provide
further protection to the driver and
front passenger when added to the pri-
mary protection provided by the seatbelts.
In response to a severe frontal impact, the
SRS airbags work together with the seat
belts to help preventing or reduce injury by
inflating, in order to decrease the likeli-
hood of the driver's or front passenger's
head or chest directly hitting the steering
wheel or dashboard. The passenger air-
bag is activated even with no passenger
in the front seat.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 airbags
are operating properly.
The SRS airbag warning light system
monitors the airbag sensor assembly, in-
flators, warning light, interconnecting wir-
ing 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 airbags
may not deploy.
SRS airbags (for U.S.A.)

30However, 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 (a collision in which the nose of the
vehicle underridesº, or goes under, the
bed of a truck.) It is possible with collision severity at the marginal level of airbag sensor detection
and activation that only one of your ve-
hicle's two airbags will deploy.
For your safety, be sure to always wear your seat belts.
The SRS airbags are not designed to inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a
side or rear impact, if it rolls over, or if
it is involved in a low-speed frontalcollision.The SRS airbag system mainly consists
of the following components and their
locations are shown in the illustration.
1. SRS airbag warning light
2. Steering wheel pad (airbag and inflat-
or)
3. Passenger airbag module (airbag and inflator)
4. Airbag sensor assembly
The airbag sensor assembly consists of a
safing sensor and airbag sensor.

31
In a severe frontal impact, sensors detect
deceleration and the system triggers the
airbag inflators. Then a chemical reaction in
the inflators momentarily fills the airbags
with non- toxic nitrogen gas to help restrain
the forward motion of the occupants.
When the airbags inflate, they produce a
fairly loud noise and release 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 airbags happen in a frac-
tion of a second, so the airbags must inflate
with considerable force. While the system
is designed to reduce serious injuries, it
may also cause minor burns or abrasions
and swellings.
Parts of the airbag module (steering wheel
hub, dashboard) may be hot for several
minutes, but the airbags themselves will not
be hot. The airbags are designed to inflate
only once.
A crash severe enough to inflate the air-
bags may break the windshield as the ve-
hicle buckles. In vehicles with a passenger
airbag the windshield may also be dam-
aged by absorbing some of the force of the
inflating airbag.
CAUTION!
The SRS airbag system is designed
only as a supplement to the prima-
ry protection of the seat belt sys-
tems of the driver and front passen-
ger. The front seat occupants are
particularly susceptible to injury if
they do not wear their seat belts;
when sudden braking or a collision
occurs, they may be thrown for-
ward. To obtain maximum protec-
tion in an accident, the driver and
all passengers in the vehicle
should always wear their seat belts
when driving because serious in-
juries can result to unrestrained
occupants. For instructions and
precautions concerning the seat
belt system, see Seat beltsº in this
chapter.
A baby or small child who is too
small to use a seat belt should be
properly secured in a rear seat us-
ing a child restraint system.
Never put a rear-facing child re-
straint system in the front seat be- cause the force of the rapid infla-
tion of the passenger airbag can cause severe injury to the child.

32
Only when it is unavoidable
should a forward-facing child re-
straint system be used on the front
seat. Always move the seat as far
back as possible because the force
of a deploying airbag would cause
serious injury to the child. For in-
structions concerning the installa-
tion of a child restraint system, see
Child restraintº in this chapter. Do not sit on the edge of the seat or
lean over the dashboard when the
vehicle is in use. The airbags in-
flate with considerable speed and
force; you may be severely injured.
Sit up straight and well back in the seat, and always use your seat belt. Do not allow a child to stand up, or
to kneel on the front passenger seat. The airbag inflates with con-
siderable speed and force; the
child may be severely injured.
Do not hold a child on your lap or in your arms. Use a child restraint
system in the rear seat. For in-
structions concerning the installa- tion of a child restraint system, see
Child restraintº in this chapter.