1998 HONDA CIVIC COUPE Owners Manual

Protecting Adults

Position the belt as low as possible
across your hips. This lets your strong pelvic bones take the force of
a crash and reduces the chance of
internal injuries.
Pull on the loose end of the belt for asnug but comfortable fit.
If a Seat Belt Doesn't Work Properly.

If your seat belt dose not seem to
work as it should, it may not protect you in a crash. Anyone using aninoperative seat belt can be seriously

injured or killed. No one should sit in a
seat with an inoperative seat belt. Have

your Honda dealer check the belt as soon as possible.
Honda provides a lifetime warranty
on seat belts. Honda will repair or
replace any seat belt component that
fails to function properly during normal use. Please see your Honda Warranty Information booklet for

details.
See page 40 for additional
information about your seat belt
system and how to take care of your

belts.

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Protecting Adults

6.Adjust the Steering Wheel
Adjust the steering wheel, if needed, so that the wheel points toward your
chest, not toward your face.
Pointing the steering wheel toward
your face decreases the protective capability of the driver's airbag.
See page 63 for how to adjust the

steering wheel.
7.Maintain a Proper Sitting

Position
After all occupants have adjusted their seats and put on seat belts, it is
very important that they continue to sit upright, with their bodies well
back in their seats and both feet on
the floor, until the car is parked and
the engine is off.
Sitting improperly can increase the
chance of injury during a crash. For
example, if an occupant slouches,
lies down, turns sideways, sits
forward, leans forward, or puts one or both feet up, their chance of
injury during a crash is greatly
increased.

In addition, if an occupant is out of
position in the front seat, they can beseriously or fatally injured by
striking interior parts of the vehicle,
or by being struck by an inflating

airbag.
Remember, to get the best
protection from your vehicle's airbags and other safety features,
you must sit properly and wear your seat belt properly.
Driver and Passenger Safety Sitting improperly or out of
position can result in serious
injury or death in a crash.
Always sit upright, well back in
the seat, with your feet on the

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Protecting Adults

Advice for Pregnant Women
Because protecting the mother is the
best way to protect her unborn child,
a pregnant woman should always
wear a seat belt whenever she drives or rides in a car.
We recommend that pregnant women use a lap/shoulder belt
whenever possible. Remember to keep the lap portion of the belt aslow as possible across your hips. Pregnant women should also sit as
far back as practical from the steering wheel or dashboard. This
will reduce the risk of injuries to both the mother and her unbornchild that can be caused by a crashor an inflating airbag.
Each time you have a checkup, ask
your doctor if it's okay for you to drive. Additional Safety Precautions
Two people should never use the

same seat belt. If they do, they
could be very seriously injured in a

crash.
Do not put any accessories on seat

belts. Devices intended to improve
occupant comfort, or reposition
the shoulder part of a seat belt, can severely compromise the
protective capability of seat belts and increase the chance of serious
injury in a crash.

CONTINUED

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Protecting Adults

Do not place hard or sharp objects

between yourself and an airbag.

Carrying hard or sharp objects on
your lap, or driving with a pipe or other sharp object in your mouth,
can result in injuries if your
airbags inflate.
Keep your hands and arms away

from the airbag covers.

If your hands or arms are close to
the SRS covers in the center of the steering wheel and on top of the
dashboard, they could be injured if
the airbags inflate.

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Protecting Children
Children depend on adults to protect
them. However, despite their best intentions, many parents and other
adults do not know how to properly
protect young passengers.
So if you have children, or if you ever
need to drive with a grandchild or
other children in your vehicle, be
sure to read this section. All Children Must Be Restrained
Each year, many children are injured
or killed in vehicle crashes because
they are either unrestrained or notproperly restrained. In fact, vehicleaccidents are the number one cause
of death of children age 12 and
under.
To reduce the number of child deaths and injuries, every state andCanadian province requires that
infants and children be restrained
whenever they ride in a vehicle.

Any child who is too small to wear a seat belt should be properly
restrained in a child seat. (See page
23.)

Larger children should always be

restrained with a seat belt. (See page
35.)

Driver and Passenger Safety

Children who are unrestrained
or improperly restrained can be
seriously injured or killed in a
crash.
Any child too small for a seat belt should be properly
restrained in a child seat.
Larger children should be
properly restrained with a seat
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Protecting Children

Children Should Sit in the Back

Seat

According to accident statistics, children of all ages and sizes aresafer when they are restrained in the
back seat, not the front seat. The
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration recommends that all children age 12 and under ride in the
back seat, properly restrained.
In the back seat, children are less
likely to be injured by striking hard interior vehicle parts during a
collision or hard braking. Also,
children cannot be injured by an
inflating airbag when they ride in the
back.
The Passenger's Airbag Poses

Serious Risks to Children
Airbags have been designed to help protect adults in a severe frontalcollision. To do this, the passenger's
airbag is quite large, and it inflates

with tremendous speed.

Infants
Never put a rear-facing child seat in the front seat of a vehicle equipped
with a passenger's airbag. If the

airbag inflates, it can hit the back of
the child seat with enough force to
kill or very seriously injure an infant. Small Children

Placing a forward-facing child seat in the front seat of a vehicle equipped
with a passenger's airbag can be

hazardous. If the vehicle seat is too
far forward, or the child's head is
thrown forward during a collision, an inflating airbag can strike the child
with enough force to kill or very seriously injure a small child.
Larger Children
Children who have outgrown child
seats are also at risk of being injured or killed by an inflating passenger

airbag. Whenever possible, larger

children should sit in the back seat,
properly restrained by a seat belt. (See page 35 for important
information about protecting larger
children.)
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Protecting Children

U.S. Models
To remind you of the passenger airbag hazards, and that children
must be properly restrained in the
back seat, your vehicle has warning
labels on the dashboard and on thedriver's and front passenger's visors.Please read and follow the
instructions on these labels. If You Must Drive With Several
Children
Your vehicle has three seating positions in the back seat wherechildren can be properly restrained.
If you ever have to carry more than
three children in your vehicle:
Place the largest child in the frontseat, provided the child is large
enough to wear a seat belt
properly (see page 35).
Move the vehicle seat as far to the
rear as possible (see page 10).
Have the child sit upright and well
back in the seat (see page 16). Make sure the seat belt is properly
positioned and secured (see page 13).

Driver and Passenger Safety

Children Can Be KILLED or INJURED
by Passenger Airbag

The back seat is the safest place for children 12 and under. Make sure all children use seat belts or child seats.Main Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Children

If A Child Requires Close
Attention Many parents say they prefer to put
an infant or small child in the front
passenger seat so they can watch the child, or because the child requires
attention.
Placing a child in the front seat
exposes them to hazards from the airbag, and paying close attention to
a child distracts the driver from the
important tasks of driving, creating serious safety risks.
If a child requires physical attention or frequent visual contact, westrongly recommend that another
adult ride with the child in the back
seat. The back seat is far safer for a
child than the front. Additional Safety Precaution
Do not leave children alone in your
vehicle. Leaving children without
adult supervision is illegal in most states and can be very hazardous. For
example, infants and small children left in a vehicle on a hot day can die
from heatstroke. And children left
alone with the key in the ignition can
accidentally set the vehicle in
motion, possibly injuring themselves
or others.
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