2000 Acura Integra steering wheel

Drive
r an d Passenge r Safet y
This section gives you important information about how to protect
yourself and your passengers. It shows you how to use seat belts
properly. It explains your Supple-
mental Restraint System. And it tells
you how to properly restrain infants and children in your car.
Important Safety Precautions.......... 6
Your Car's Safety Features.............. 7
Seat Belts........................................ 8
Airbags............................................ 9
Seats &
Seat-Backs...................... 10
Head Restraints........................... 10
Door Locks................................... 11
Pre-Drive Safety Checklist......... 11

Protecting Adults.............................

12
1.
Close and Lock the Doors...... 12
2. Adjust the Front Seats............
12
3. Adjus
t the Seat-Backs............. 13
4. Adjust the Head Restraints.... 14 5. Fasten and Position the Seat
Belts...................................... 15

6. Adjust the Steering Wheel..... 18

7. Maintain a Proper Sitting
Position................................. 18

Advice for Pregnant Women...... 19

Additional Safety Precautions....

19

Protecting Children........................
. 21

All Children Must Be
Restrained................................ 21

Children Should Sit in the Back
Seat............................................ 22

The Passenger's Airbag Poses Serious Risks to Children....... 22
If You Must Drive with Several
Children.................................... 23
If a Child Requires Close
Attention................................... 24
Additional Safety Precautions.... 24 General Guidelines for Using

Child Seats................................ 25

Protecting Infants........................ 29
Protecting Small Children.......... 33
Protecting Larger Children........ 37
Using Child Seats with Tethers...................................... 40
Additional Information About Your
Seat Belts.................................. 42

Seat Belt System Components... 42
Lap/Shoulder Belt....................... 42
Lap Belt......................................... 43Seat Belt Maintenance................ 44
Additional Information About Your

SRS............................................45

SRS Components......................... 45

How Your Airbags Work............ 45

How the SRS Indicator Light
Works........................................ 47

SRS Service................................... 47

Additional Safety Precautions.... 48
Carbon Monoxide Hazard.............. 49

Safety Labels.................................... 50

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
Airbag s
Your car has a Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) with frontalairbags to help protect the driver and
a front seat passenger.
This system also includesan 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 of
collisions. The airbags supplementthe 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 notsitting 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 an d Passenge r Safet y

S
R S

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
Seat s & Seat-Back s
Your car's seats are designed to keep you in a comfortable, uprightposition so you can take full advantage of the protection offered
by seat belts and the energy absorbing materials in the seats.
How you adjust your seats and seat-
backs can also affect your safety. Forexample, 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 car, 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 car is
moving.
Hea d Restraint s
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.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
Doo r Lock s
Keeping your doors locked reduces
the chance of being thrown out of
the car during a crash. It also helps prevent occupants from accidentallyopening a door and falling out, and
outsiders from unexpectedly opening
your doors. Pre-Driv
e Safet y Checklis t
To make sure you and your passengers get the maximum
protection from your car's safety
features, check the following each time before you drive away:
All adults, and children who haveoutgrown 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 the back seat (see page 21 ). 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 are closed and locked
(see page 12 ). All cargo is properly stored or
secured (see page 127 ).
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 an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Adult s

Introductio n
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 childseats and are large enough to wear
lap/shoulder belts. (See page 37 for
important additional guidelines on
how to properly protect larger children.)
1 . Clos e an d Loc k th e Door s
After everyone has entered the car, be sure the doors
are closed and locked. Your car has a door monitor light on
the instrument panel to indicate
when a specific door is not tightly
closed.

For safety, locking the doors reduces
the chance that a passenger,
especially a child, will open a door
while the car is moving and accidentally fall out. It also reducesthe chance of someone being thrown
out of the car during a crash.
For security, locked doors can
prevent an outsider from unexpectedly opening a door when
you come to a stop.
See page 72 for how to lock the

doors.
2.Adjus
t th e Fron t Seat s
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.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Adult s

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 steeling wheel while still maintaining full control of the car.
Also make sure your front seat passenger moves the seat as far tothe 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 aboutsitting 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 75 for how to adjust the
front seats.
3.Adjus t th e Seat-Back s
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 you sit too close to the steering wheel,
you could be injured if the airbag inflates. 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.

CONTINUED

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

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.

Protectin
g Adult s

6.Adjus t th e Steerin g Whee l
Adjust the steering wheel, if needed, so that the wheel points toward your
chest, not toward your face.
Pointing the steering wheel toward
your chest provides optimal protection from the airbag.
See page 65 for how to adjust the
steering wheel.
7.Maintai
n a Prope r Sittin g
Positio n
After all occupants have adjusted their seats and put on seat belts, it is
very important that they continue to sit upright, well back in their seats,
with their 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 sideways, or puts one or both feet up, the
chance of injury during a crash is
greatly increased.
In addition, an occupant who is out of
position in the front seat can be seriously or fatally injured by
striking interior parts of the car, or
by being struck by an inflating airbag. Remember, to get the best
protection from your car's airbags
and other safety features, you must
sit properly and wear your seat belt

properly.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
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
floor.

Protectin
g Adult s
Advic e fo r Pregnan t Wome n
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.
We recommend that pregnant women use a lap/shoulder belt
whenever possible. Remember tokeep the lap portion of the belt as
low as possible across your hips. Pregnant women should also sit
upright and 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 check-up, ask
your doctor if it's okay for you to drive. Additiona
l Safet y Precaution s
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 the seat belt and increase the chance of
serious injury in a crash.

CONTINUED

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y