1999 LEXUS SC300 Owners Manual

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127
CAUTION
Do not modify, remove or strike the front seat belt retractor
assemblies or surrounding area. Doing any of these may cause
sudden operation of the front seat belt pr etensioners or disable
the system, which could result in personal injury.
Failure to follow these instructions can result in severe
injuries.

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NOTICE
Do not perform any of the following changes without
consulting your Lexus dealer. Such changes can
interfere with proper operation of the seat belt
pretensioners in some cases.

Repairs on or near the front seat belt retractor
assemblies.

Modification of the suspension system.

Modification of the front end structure.

Attachment of a grille guard (bull bar, kangaroo bar,
etc.), snow plow, winches or any other equipment to
the front end.
In the following case, contact your Lexus dealer as soon as
possible:

If either front seat belt does not retract or cannot be pulled
out due to a malfunction or activation of the pretensioner.

The front seat belt retractor assembly or surrounding area
has been damaged.
SRS AIRBAGS
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) airbags are
designed to provide further protection for the driver and
front passenger when added to the primary protection
provided by the seat belts.
In response to a severe frontal impact, the SRS airbags
work together with the seat belts to help prevent or r educe
injury by inflating, in order to decrease the likelihood of
the driver's or front passenger's head or chest directly
hitting the steering wheel or dashboard.
The passenger airbag is activated even with no passenger in
the front seat.
Be sure to wear
your seat belt.

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129
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.
This indicator comes on when the ignition key is turned to
the ºACCº or ºONº position. It goes off after about 6
seconds. This means the SRS airbags are operating
properly.
The SRS airbag warning light system monitors the airbag
sensor assembly, inflators, warning light, interconnecting
wiring and power sources. (For details, see ºService
reminder indicators and warning buzzersº on page 53 for
instructions.)

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The SRS airbag system is 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 SRS airbags will not activate
with such an impact in which the occupant wearing the seat
belt correctly would not get serious injury.
The SRS airbags will deploy if the severity of the impact is
above the designed threshold level, comparable to an
approximate 20 km/h (14 mph) collision when impacting
straight into a fixed barrier that does not move or deform.
If the severity of the impact is below the above threshold
level, the SRS airbags may not deploy.
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 (a collision in which the nose of the
vehicle ºunderridesº, or goes under, the bed of a truck, etc.). It is possible with collision severity at the marginal level of
airbag sensor detection and activation that only one of your
vehicle's two airbags will deploy.
For the safety of all occupants, be sure to always wear seat
belts.

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The SRS airbags are not designed to inflate if the vehicle
is subjected to a side or rear impact, if it rolls over, or if it
is involved in a low±speed frontal collision.

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132
The SRS airbags may operate if a serious impact occurs
to the underside of your vehicle. Some examples are
shown in the illustration.

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The airbag sensor assembly consists of a safing sensor and
airbag sensor.
In a severe frontal impact, sensors detect deceleration and the
system triggers the airbag inflators. Then a chemical reaction
in the inflators momentarily fills the airbags with non±toxic
gas to help restrain the forward motion of the occupants.
When the airbags inflate, they produce a fairly loud noise.
And the driver airbag also releases some smoke and residue
along with non±toxic gas. This does not indicate a fire. This
gas is normally harmless, however, for those who have
delicate skin, it may cause minor skin irritation. Be sure to
wash off any residue as soon as possible to prevent minor skin
irritation.
Deployment of the airbags happens in a fraction of a second,
so the airbags must inflate with considerable force. While the
system is designed to reduce serious injuries, it may also
cause minor burns or abrasions and swellings. Parts of the airbag module (steering wheel hub, dashboard)
may be hot for several minutes, but the airbags themselves
will
not be hot. The airbags are designed to inflate only once.
A crash severe enough to inflate the airbags may break the
windshield as the vehicle buckles. In vehicles with a
passenger airbag the windshield may also be damaged by
absorbing some of the force of the inflating airbag.

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CAUTION

The SRS airbag system is designed only as a supplement to
the primary protection of the driver side and front
passenger side seat belt systems. The front seat occupants
can be killed or seriously injured by an inflating airbag if
they do not wear the available seat belts. During sudden
braking just before a collision, an unrestrained driver or
front passenger can move forward into direct contact with
or close proximity to the airbag which may then deploy
during the collision. To obtain maximum protection in an
accident, the driver and all passengers in the vehicle must
wear their seat belts. Wearing a seat belt during an
accident reduces the chances of death or serious injuries or
being thrown out of the vehicle. For instructions and
precautions concerning the seat belt system, see ºSeat
beltsº on page 115.

Improperly seated and/or restrained infants and children
can be killed or seriously injured by a deploying airbag. An
infant or child who is too small to use a seat belt should be
properly secured using a child restraint system. Lexus
strongly recommends that all infants and children be
placed in the rear seat of the vehicle and properly
restrained. The rear seat is the safest for infants and
children. For instructions concerning the installation of a
child restraint system, see ºChild restraintº on page 143.