1998 HONDA PRELUDE Owners Manual

Protecting Adults
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 be seriously 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.
Remember to keep the lap portion of
the belt as low as possible across
your hips. Pregnant women should also sit as
far back as possible from the steering wheel or dashboard. This
will reduce the risk of injuries to both the mother and her unborn
child that can be caused by a crash
or 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.

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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, besure to read this section. All Children Must Be Restrained
Each year, many children are injuredor killed in vehicle crashes because
they are either unrestrained or not
properly restrained. In fact, vehicle
accidents are the number one cause of death of children ages 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 are
safer when they are restrained in the
back seat, not the front seat. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration recommends that all children ages 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 frontal

collision. 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 with 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's airbag hazards, and that children
must be properly restrained in the
back seat, your vehicle has warning
labels on the dashboard and on the driver'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 two seating positions in the back seat where
children can be properly restrained.
If you ever have to carry more than
two children in your vehicle: Place the largest child in the front
seat, 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 11).
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
14).
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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, we strongly 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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Protecting Children

General Guidelines for Using
Child Seats
The following pages give general guidelines for selecting and installing
child seats for infants and small
children.
Selecting a Child Seat
To provide proper protection, a child seat should meet three
requirements:
1. The child seat should meet
safety standards. The child seat

should meet Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 213
(FMVSS 213) or Canadian
Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Look for the manufacturer's
statement of compliance on the
box and
seat.
2. The child seat should be of the proper type and size to fit the

child.
Infants: Children up to about one
year old should be restrained in a rear-facing, reclining child seat. Only
rear-facing seats provide the support an infant needs to protect their head,
neck, and back. See page 27 for
additional information on protecting
infants. Small Children: A child who is too
large for a rear-facing child seat, and
who can sit up without support, should be restrained in a forward-
facing child seat. See page 31 for
additional information on protecting
small children.

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