1999 HONDA ODYSSEY Owners Manual

Your Vehicle's Safety Features

Seat Belts
For your safety, and the safety of
your passengers, your vehicle is equipped with seat belts in all seating
positions.
Your seat belt system alsoincludes a light on the
instrument panel to remind you and
your passengers to fasten your seat belts.

Why Wear Seat Belts

Seat belts are the single most
effective safety device for adults and
larger children. (Infants and smaller
children must be properly restrained
in child seats.)
Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
though your vehicle has airbags. In addition, most states and all
Canadian provinces require you to
wear seat belts.
When properly worn, seat belts: Keep you connected to the vehicle
so you can take advantage of the
vehicle's built-in safety features. Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including side and rear impacts and rollovers. (Your
airbag can only be helpful in a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.)
Help keep you from being thrown
against the inside of the vehicle
and against other occupants.
Keep you from being thrown out
of the vehicle.
Help keep you in a good position
should the airbags ever deploy. A
good position reduces the risk of
injury from an inflating airbag, and allows you to get the best
advantage from the airbag.
Of course, seat belts cannot
completely protect you in every
crash. But in most cases, seat belts
can reduce your risk of serious
injury.

What you should do: Always wear

your seat belt, and make sure you wear it properly.
Driver and Passenger Safety
Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
if you have airbags.
Be sure you and your
passengers always wear seat
belts and wear them properly.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Your Vehicle's Safety Features

Airbags
Your vehicle has a Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) with frontal
airbags to help protect the driver and
a front seat passenger.
This system also includes an indicator light on the instrument
panel to alert you to a possible
problem with the system. The most important things you need
to know about your airbags are:
Airbags do not replace seat belts.

The seat belts are the occupants' primary protection in all types ofcollisions. The airbags supplement
the seat belts by providing extra protection for the head and chest
of each front seat occupant in a
moderate to severe frontal

collision.
Airbags offer no protection in side

impacts, rear impacts, rollovers,
or minor collisions. Airbags are

designed to deploy only during a
moderate to severe frontal

collision.
Airbags can pose serious hazards.

To do their job, airbags must inflate with tremendous force and
speed. So while airbags save lives,
they can cause serious injuries to
adults and larger children who are not wearing seat belts, are not
wearing them properly, are sitting
too close to the airbag, or are not sitting in a proper position. Infants
and small children are at an even
greater risk of injury or death.

What you should do: Always wear

your seat belt properly, and sit upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel or

dashboard.

Driver and Passenger SafetyProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Your Vehicle's Safety Features

Seats & Seat-Backs
Your vehicle's seats are designed to keep you in a comfortable, upright
position so you can take full
advantage of the protection offered
by seat belts and the energyabsorbing materials in the seats.
How you adjust your seats and seat-
backs can also affect your safety. For example, sitting too close to the
steering wheel or dashboard
increases the risk of you or your
passenger being injured by striking
the inside of the vehicle, or by an
inflating airbag.
Reclining a seat-back too far reduces
the seat belt's effectiveness and increases the chance that the seat's
occupant will slide under the seat
belt in a crash and be seriously
injured.
What you should do: Move the front

seats as far back as possible, and

keep adjustable seat-backs in an
upright position whenever the

vehicle is moving.

Head Restraints

Head restraints can help protect you

from whiplash and other injuries. For
maximum protection, the back of

your head should rest against the center of the head restraint. Door Locks

Keeping your doors locked reduces

the chance of being thrown out of
the vehicle during a crash. It also

helps prevent occupants from
accidentally opening a door and

falling out, and outsiders from
unexpectedly opening your doors.

Driver and Passenger SafetyProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Your Vehicle's Safety Features

Pre-Drive Safety Checklist

To make sure you and your passengers get the maximum
protection from your vehicle's safety
features, check the following each
time before you drive away: All adults, and children who have
outgrown child safety seats, are
wearing their seat belts and wearing them properly (see page 15).
Any infant or small child is
properly restrained in a child seat

in a back seat (see page 22). Front seat occupants are sitting
upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel and dashboard (see page 12 ). Seat-backs are upright (see page
13). Head restraints are properly
adjusted (see page 14).
All doors and the tailgate are
closed and locked (see page 12 ). All cargo is properly stored or
secured (see page 191).
The rest of this section gives more detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.
Remember, however, that no safety
system can prevent all injuries or
deaths that can occur in severe
crashes, even when seat belts are
properly worn and the airbags deploy.

Driver and Passenger SafetyProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Adults

Introduction
The following pages provide instructions on how to properly
protect the driver and other adult

occupants.

These instructions also apply to children who have outgrown child
seats and are large enough to wear
lap/shoulder belts. (See page 39 for
important additional guidelines on
how to properly protect larger children.) 1 .Close and Lock the Doors
After everyone has entered the vehicle, be sure the doors andtailgate are closed and locked.
Your vehicle has a door and tailgate monitor light on the instrument
panel to indicate when a specificdoor or the tailgate is not tightly

closed.

For safety, locking the doors reduces
the chance that a passenger, especially a child, will open a door
while the vehicle is moving and accidentally fall out. It also reduces
the chance of someone being thrown
out of the vehicle during a crash.
For security, locked doors can
prevent an outsider from
unexpectedly opening a door when
you come to a stop.
See page 79 for how to lock the

doors.
2.Adjust the Front Seats
Any driver who sits too close to the steering wheel is at risk of being
seriously injured or killed by striking
the steering wheel, or from being struck by an inflating airbag during a

crash.

Driver and Passenger SafetyProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Adults

To reduce the chance of injury, wear your seat belt properly, sit upright
with your back against the seat, andmove the seat as far back as possible
from the steering wheel while still maintaining full control of the
vehicle. Also make sure your front seat passenger moves the seat as far
to the rear as possible. Most shorter drivers can get far
enough away from the steering
wheel and still reach the pedals. However, if you are concerned about
sitting too close, we recommend that
you investigate whether some type of adaptive equipment may help.
Once your seat is adjusted correctly,
rock it back and forth to make sure
the seat is locked in position.
See page 100 for how to adjust the
front seats. 3.Adjust the Seat-Backs
Adjust the driver's seat-back to a comfortable, upright position,
leaving ample space between your chest and the airbag cover in the
center of the steering wheel. If yousit too close to the steering wheel,
you could be injured if the airbag inflates.

CONTINUED

Driver and Passenger Safety

Sitting too close to an airbag
can result in serious injury or
death if the airbags inflate.
Always sit as far back from the
airbags as possible.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Adults

A front passenger should also adjust the seat-back to an upright position,
but as far from the dashboard as
possible. A passenger who sits tooclose to the dashboard could be
injured if the airbag inflates.
Reclining a seat-back so that theshoulder part of the belt no longer
rests against the occupant's chest
reduces the protective capability of
the belt. It also increases the chance of sliding under the belt in a crash
and being seriously injured. The
farther a seat-back is reclined, the
greater the risk of injury.
See page 101 for how to adjust seat-

backs.
4.Adjust the Head Restraints
Before driving, make sure everyone
with an adjustable head restraint has properly positioned the head
restraint. The restraint should be
positioned so the back of theoccupant's head rests against the
center of the restraint. A taller
person should adjust the restraint as
high as possible.
Driver and Passenger Safety
Reclining the seat-back too far
can result in serious injury or
death in a crash.
Adjust the seat-back to an upright position and sit well
back in the seat.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Adults

Properly adjusted head restraints
will help protect occupants from whiplash and other crash injuries.
See page 104 for how to adjust the
head restraints. 5.Fasten and Position the Seat
Belts

Using a Lap/Shoulder Belt

(Except the center position of the

third row) Insert the latch plate into the buckle,
then tug on the belt to make sure the
belt is securely latched. Also check
that the belt is not twisted, because a twisted belt can cause seriousinjuries in a crash.
Position the lap part of the belt as
low as possible across your hips,
then pull up on the shoulder part of
the belt so the lap part fits snugly.
This lets your strong pelvic bones take the force of a crash and reduces
the chance of internal injuries.

CONTINUED

Driver and Passenger Safety
Improperly positioning head
restraints reduces their
effectiveness and you can be
seriously injured in a crash.
Make sure head restraints are
in place and positioned properly
before driving.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t