1998 Lexus ES300 Owner's Manuals (in English)

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT65
Pregnant wom
an. Lexus recommends the use of a seat belt. Ask your doctor
for specific recommendations. The lap belt should be worn securely and as
low as possible over the hips and not on the waist.
Injured person. Lexus recommends the use of a seat belt. Depending on the
injury, first check with your doctor for specific recommendations.
CAUTION
Persons should ride in their seats properly wearing their seat
belts whenever the vehicle is moving. Otherwise, they are
much more likely to suffer serious bodily injury in the event
of sudden braking or a collision.
When using the seat belts, observe the following:
 Use the belt for only one person at a time. Do not use a
single belt for two or more people ± even children.
 Avoid reclining the seatbacks too much. The seat belts
provide maximum protection when the seatbacks are in the
upright position. (See ºAdjusting seatback angleº.)
 Be careful not to damage the belt webbing or hardware.
Take care that they do not get caught or pinched in the seat
or doors.
 Inspect the belt system periodically. Check for cuts,
fraying, and loose parts. Damaged parts should be
replaced. Do not disassemble or modify the system.
Keep the belts clean and dry. If they need cleaning, use a mild soap
solution or lukewarm water. Never use bleach, dye, or abrasive
cleaners ± they may severely weaken the belts.
 Replace the belt assembly (including bolts) if it has been used in a
severe impact. The entire assembly should be replaced even if
damage is not obvious.
Fastening front and rear seat belts
16E014±1
Adjust the seat as needed and sit up straight and well back in the seat. To
fasten your belt, pull it out of the retractor and insert the tab into the
buckle.
You will hear a click when the tab locks into the buckle.
The seat belt length automatically adjusts to your size and the seat pos\
ition.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
66
The retractor will lock the belt during a sudden stop or on impact. It als\
o may
lock if you lean forward too quickly. A slow, easy motion will allow the belt
to extend, and you can move around freely.
When a passenger's shoulder belt is completely extended and is then retracted
even slightly, the belt is locked in that position and cannot be extended. This
feature is used to hold the child restraint system securely. (For details, see
ºChild restraintº on page 80.) To free the belt again, fully retract the belt and
then pull the belt out once more.
If the seat belt cannot be pulled out of the retractor, firmly pull the belt and
release
it. You will then be able to smoothly pull the belt out of the retractor.
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 Lexus dealer. Do not use the seat until the seat
belt is fixed. It cannot protect an adult occupant or your
child from injury.
16E015±1
Adjust the position of the lap and shoulder belts.
1 Position the lap belt as low as possible on your hips ± not on your waist.
2
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 sliding under the lap belt
during a collision or other unintended result. Keep the lap
belt positioned as low on hip as possible.
 For your safety, do not place the shoulder belt under your
arm.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT67
16E016

Front seat belts only
Adjust the shoulder anchor position to your size.
To raise the anchor position, push the anchor up. To lower the anchor position,
support the anchor while you push the lock release button then slide the anchor
down. After the adjustment, make sure the anchor is locked in position.
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.
16E017±1
To release the belt, press the buckle release button and allow the belt to
retract.
If the belt does not retract smoothly, pull it out and check for kinks or twists.
Then make sure it remains untwisted as it retracts.
Seat belt extender
If the front or rear outside seat belts cannot be fastened securely beca\
use it is
not long enough, a personalized seat belt extender is available from your
Lexus dealer free of charge.
Please contact your local Lexus dealer so that the dealer can order the proper\
required length for the extender. Bring the heaviest coat you expect to wear
for proper measurement and selection of length. Additional ordering
information is available at your Lexus dealer.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
68
CAUTION
When using the seat belt extender, observe the following.
Failure to follow 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 without it.
 Remember that the extender provided 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 originally
intended for.
16E018±2
To connect the extender to the seat belt, insert the tab into the seat belt
buckle so that the ºPRESSº signs on the buckle release buttons of the
extender 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 extender 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 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 Lexus dealer. Do not use the seat until the seat
belt is fixed. It cannot protect an adult occupant or your
child from injury.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT69
SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM(SRS)
The Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) consists of driver and front
passenger airbags, side airbags and seat belt pretensioners. The
combination of these 3 systems is designed to provide further protection
for the driver and front passenger when added to the primary pr otection
provided by the seat belts.
16E124

Driver and front passenger airbags, and seat belt pretensioners
Driver and front passenger airbags:
In response to a severe frontal impact, the driver and front passenger
airbags work together with the seat belts to help preventing or reduce
injury by inflating, in order to decrease the likelihood of the driver's or
front passenger's heads or chests from directly hitting the steering wheel
or dashboard. Seat belt pretensioners:
In response to a severe frontal impact, the seat belts are quickly drawn
back in by the retractors so that the belts snugly restrain the driver and
front passenger.
The front passenger airbag is activated even with no passenger in the front\
seat.
The seat belt pretensioners are activated together with the driver and fron\
t
passenger airbags, even with no passenger in the front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt.
CAUTION
The driver or front passenger too close to the steering wheel
or dashboard during airbag deployment can be killed or
seriously injured. Lexus strongly recommends that:

The driver sit as far back as possible from the steering
wheel while still maintaining control of the vehicle.
 The front passenger sit as far back as possible from the
dashboard.
 All vehicle occupants be properly restrained using the
available seat belts.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
70
16E125±1

Side airbags
Side airbags:
In response to a severe side impact, the side airbag for the driver or front
passenger works together with the seat belt to help preventing or
reducing injury by inflating, in order to decrease the impact mainly on the
driver or front passenger's chest.
The side airbag on the passenger seat is activated even with no passenge\
r in
the front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt.
CAUTION
SRS side airbags inflate with considerable force. To avoid
potential death or serious injury during inflation of a side
airbag, Lexus strongly recommends that the driver and front
passenger;
 Wear their seat belt.
 Remain properly seated with their back against the seat at
all times.
16E022
The indicator comes on when the ignition key is turned to the ºACCº o\
r
ºONº position. It goes off after about 6 seconds. This means the SRS is
operating properly.
The SRS warning light system monitors the airbag sensor assemblies,
inflators, seat belt pretensioners, warning light, interconnecting wiring and
power sources.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT71
16E023
The driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners are
designed to activate in response to a severe frontal impact within the
shaded area between the arrows in the illustration.
There may be the case that the driver and passenger airbags and seat belt
pretensioners will not activate with such an impact in which the occupan\
t
wearing the seat belt correctly would not get serious injury.
The driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners will wor\
k
if the severity of the impact is above the designed threshold level, compa\
rable
to an approximate 20 km/h (14 mph) collision when impacting straight i\
nto
a fixed barrier that does not move or deform.
If the severity of the impact is below the above threshold level, the driv\
er and
front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners may not work. 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 impact, or if it is involved in an underride collision (e.g. a collisio\
n
in which the nose of the vehicle ºunderridesº, or goes under, the bed of a
truck).
It is possible with collision severity at the marginal level of driver and
passenger airbag sensor detection and activation that only one of your
vehicle's driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners will
work.
For the safety of all occupants, be sure to always wear seat belts.

COMFORT ADJUSTMENT
72
16E134±1

1Collision from the rear
2Vehicle roll±over
The driver and front passenger airbags and seat belt pretensioners are
not designed to inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a rear impact, if it r olls
over, or if it is involved in a low±speed frontal collision.
The side airbags are designed to inflate when the passenger compartment
gets a severe impact from the side.
The side airbags may rather not to activate in the impact in which the occu\
pant
wearing the seat belt correctly would not get serious injury.
16E135

1 Collision from the side at an angle
2Collision from the side to the vehicle body other
than the passenger compartment
The side airbags may not inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a collis\
ion from the side at an angle, or a collision to the side of the vehicle body ot\
her
than the passenger compartment, which impact is not severe enough for
the passenger compartment.