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Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
Here you'll find information about the seats in your vehicle and how to use your safety belts properly. You can also
learn about some things you should not do with air bags and safety belts.
1
-2 Seats and Seat Controls
1
-9 Safety Belts: They're for Everyone
1
-14 Here Are Questions Many People Ask About
Safety Belts
-- and the Answers
1
-15 How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
1
-15 Driver Position
1
-22 Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
1
-23 Right Front Passenger Position
1
-23 Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)1
-30 Rear Seat Passengers
1
-33 Center Passenger Position (4-Door Models)
1
-34 Children
1
-37 Child Restraints
1
-49 Larger Children
1
-52 Safety Belt Extender
1
-52 Checking Your Restraint Systems
1
-52 Replacing Restraint System Parts
After a Crash
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JE±11±0009±X
Store the head restraint
in the top of the folded
seat cushion.
JE±11±0007±X
4. Pull up on the seatback
release knob(s) on top of
the seatback and fold the
seatback down.
On 2
-door models, you
must pull up on both
release knobs at the
same time to lower
the seatback.
JE±11±0010±X
5. Reach between the seatback and cushion to remove
the anchor plate strap.
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The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the
mother. When a safety belt is worn properly, it's more
likely that the fetus won't be hurt in a crash. For
pregnant women, as for anyone, the key to making
safety belts effective is wearing them properly.
Right Front Passenger Position
To learn how to wear the right front passenger's safety belt
properly, see ªDriver Positionº earlier in this section.
The right front passenger's safety belt works the same way
as the driver's safety belt
-- except for one thing. If you ever
pull the shoulder portion of the belt out all the way, you will
engage the child restraint locking feature. If this happens,
just let the belt go back all the way and start again.
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
This part explains the Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS) or air bag system.
Your vehicle has ªNext Generationº frontal air
bags
-- one air bag for the driver and another air bag
for the right front passenger.
Next Generation frontal air bags are designed to help
reduce the risk of injury from the force of an inflating
air bag. But even these air bags must inflate very
quickly if they are to do their job and comply with
federal regulations.Here are the most important things to know about the air
bag system:
CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash if
you aren't wearing your safety belt
-- even if you
have air bags. Wearing your safety belt during a
crash helps reduce your chance of hitting things
inside the vehicle or being ejected from it. Air
bags are ªsupplemental restraintsº to the safety
belts. All air bags
-- even Next Generation air
bags
-- are designed to work with safety belts,
but don't replace them. Air bags are designed to
work only in moderate to severe crashes where
the front of your vehicle hits something. They
aren't designed to inflate at all in rollover, rear,
side or low
-speed frontal crashes. And, for
unrestrained occupants, Next Generation air
bags may provide less protection in frontal
crashes than more forceful air bags have
provided in the past. Everyone in your vehicle
should wear a safety belt properly
-- whether or
not there's an air bag for that person.
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When should an air bag inflate?
An air bag is designed to inflate in a moderate to severe
frontal or near
-frontal crash. The air bag will inflate
only if the impact speed is above the system's designed
ªthreshold level.º If your vehicle goes straight into a
wall that doesn't move or deform, the threshold level is
about 8 to 12 mph (13 to 19 km/h). The threshold level
can vary, however, with specific vehicle design, so that
it can be somewhat above or below this range. If your
vehicle strikes something that will move or deform, such
as a parked car, the threshold level will be higher. The
air bag is not designed to inflate in rollovers, side
impacts or rear impacts, because inflation would not
help the occupant.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an air
bag should have inflated simply because of the damage
to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs were.
Inflation is determined by the angle of the impact and
how quickly the vehicle slows down in frontal or
near
-frontal impacts.
The air bag system is designed to work properly under a
wide range of conditions, including off
-road usage.
Observe safe driving speeds, especially on rough terrain.
As always, wear your safety belt. See ªOff
-Road
Drivingº in the Index for more tips on off
-road driving.What makes an air bag inflate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the air bag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. The sensing
system triggers a release of gas from the inflator, which
inflates the air bag. The inflator, air bag and related
hardware are all part of the air bag modules inside the
steering wheel and in the instrument panel in front of the
right front passenger.
How does an air bag restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near
-frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel. Air bags supplement the protection
provided by safety belts. Air bags distribute the force of
the impact more evenly over the occupant's upper body,
stopping the occupant more gradually. But air bags
would not help you in many types of collisions,
including rollovers, rear impacts and side impacts,
primarily because an occupant's motion is not toward
those air bags. Air bags should never be regarded as
anything more than a supplement to safety belts,
and then only in moderate to severe frontal or
near
-frontal collisions.
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Center Passenger Position
(4
-Door Models)
X±01±0105±T
Lap Belt
AX148039
When you sit in the center seating position, you have a
lap safety belt, which has no retractor. To make the belt
longer, tilt the latch plate and pull it along the belt.
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1-42 Top Strap
AV155001
Canadian law requires that forward-facing child
restraints have a top strap, and that the strap
be anchored.If your child restraint has a top strap, it should be
anchored. If you have a two
-door model, don't use a
restraint like that in your vehicle because the top strap
anchor cannot be installed properly. You shouldn't use
this type of restraint without anchoring the top strap.
If your vehicle is a four
-door model and you need to
have an anchor installed, you can ask your dealer to put
one in for you. This work will be done for you free of
charge. If you want to install an anchor yourself, your
dealer can tell you how to do it. Use the tether hardware
kit available from the dealer. The hardware and
installation instructions were specifically designed for
this vehicle.
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To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle's
safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety belt
will move freely again and be ready to work for an adult
or larger child passenger.
Securing a Child Restraint in the Center
Rear Seat Position (4-Door Models)
X±01±0105±T
You'll be using the lap belt. Be sure to follow the
instructions that came with the child restraint. Secure the
child in the child restraint when and as the instructions say.
See the earlier part about the top strap if the child
restraint has one.
AX163109
1. Make the belt as long as possible by tilting the latch
plate and pulling it along the belt.
2. Put the restraint on the seat.
3. Run the vehicle's safety belt through or around the
restraint. The child restraint instructions will show
you how.
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Section 2 Features and Controls
Here you can learn about the many standard and optional features on your vehicle, and information on starting,
shifting and braking. Also explained are the instrument panel and the warning systems that tell you if everything is
working properly
-- and what to do if you have a problem.
2
-2 Keys
2
-4 Door Locks
2
-6 Remote Keyless Entry System (If Equipped)
2
-9 Tailgate
2
-10 Theft
2
-11 New Vehicle ªBreak-Inº
2
-11 Ignition Positions
2
-13 Starting Your Engine
2
-14 Automatic Transmission Operation
2
-19 Manual Transmission Operation
2
-20 Four-Wheel Drive (If Equipped)
2
-22 Parking Brake
2
-23 Shifting Into PARK (P)
(Automatic Transmission Only)
2
-25 Shifting Out of PARK (P)
(Automatic Transmission Only)
2
-26 Parking Your Vehicle (Manual Transmission
Models Only)2
-27 Parking Over Things That Burn
2
-27 Engine Exhaust
2
-28 Running Your Engine While You're Parked
(Automatic Transmission)
2
-29 Windows
2
-30 Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever
2
-36 Exterior Lamps
2
-39 Interior Lamps
2
-40 Mirrors
2
-41 Storage Compartments
2
-47 Ashtrays and Cigarette Lighter
2
-47 Sun Visors
2
-48 Accessory Power Outlet (If Equipped)
2
-48 Convertible Top (If Equipped)
2
-56 The Instrument Panel -- Your
Information System
2
-58 Instrument Panel Cluster
2
-59 Warning Lights, Gages and Indicators