2000 Acura RL child seat

Driver
and 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........................... 10Door Locks................................... 10
Pre-Drive Safety Checklist......... 11

Protecting Adults............................. 12

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

6. Adjust the Steering Wheel..... 17
7. Maintain a Proper Sitting

Position................................. 17

Advice for Pregnant Women...... 18
Additional Safety Precautions.... 19

Protecting Children......................... 20

All Children Must Be
Restrained................................ 20

Children Should Sit in the Back Seat............................................ 21
The Passenger's Front Airbag Poses Serious Risksto Children............................ 21
If You Must Drive with Several
Children.................................... 23

If a Child Requires Close
Attention................................... 23

Additional Safety Precautions.... 23 General Guidelines for Using
Child Seats................................ 24

Protecting Infants........................ 28

Protecting Small Children.......... 32

Protecting Larger Children........ 35
Using Child Seats with
Tethers...................................... 39
Additional Information About Your

Seat Belts.................................. 40

Seat Belt System Components... 40

Lap/Shoulder Belt....................... 40

Automatic Seat Belt
Tensioners................................
41

Seat Bel
t Maintenance................ 42

Additional Information About Your
Front Airbags........................... 43

SRS Components.........................

43

How You
r Front Airbags

Work.......................................... 43

How the SRS Indicator Light
Works........................................ 45

Additional Information About Your
Side Airbags.............................

46

How You
r Side Airbags Work.... 46

How The Side Airbag Indicator
Light Works............................. 47

Additional Information About Your
Airbags...................................... 48

Airbag Service.............................. 48

Additional Safety Precautions.... 48

Carbon Monoxide Hazard.............. 49
Safety Labels.................................... 50

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

Importan
t Safet y Precaution s

You'll find many safety recommendations throughout thissection, and throughout this manual.
The recommendations on this page are the ones we consider to be the
most important.
Alway s Wea r You r Sea t Bel t
A seat belt is your best protection in all types of collisions. Airbagssupplement seat belts, but airbags
are designed to inflate only in a
moderate to severe frontal collision. So even though your car is equipped
with airbags, make sure you and
your passengers always wear your seat belts, and wear them properly. (See page 15.)
Restrai n Al l Childre n
Children are safest when they are
properly restrained in the back seat,
not the front seat. A child who is too small for a seat belt must be properly
restrained in a child safety seat. (See
page 20.) B
e Awar e o f Airba g Hazard s
While airbags can save lives, they can cause serious or fatal injuries to
occupants who sit too close to them,or are not properly restrained.
Infants, young children, and short
adults are at the greatest risk. Be sure to follow all instructions and
warnings in this manual. (See page 9.)

Don' t Drin k an d Driv e

Alcohol and driving don't mix. Even one drink can reduce your ability to
respond to changing conditions, and
your reaction time gets worse with every additional drink. So don't drink
and drive, and don't let your friends
drink and drive, either. Contro
l You r Spee d
Excessive speed is a major factor in
crash injuries and deaths. Generally,
the higher the speed the greater the risk, but serious accidents can also
occur at lower speeds. Never drive
faster than is safe for current conditions, regardless of the
maximum speed posted.
Kee p You r Ca r i n Saf e Conditio n
Having a tire blowout or a
mechanical failure can be extremely
hazardous. To reduce the possibility of such problems, check your tire
pressures and condition frequently, and perform all regularly scheduled
maintenance. (See page 204.)
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
These safety features are designed to reduce the severity of injuries in acrash. However, you and your
passengers can't take full advantage of these safety features unless you
remain sitting in a proper position
and always wear your seat belts

properly. In fact, some safety
features can contribute to injuries if
they are not used properly. Sea
t Belt s
For your safety, and the safety of
your passengers, your car 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 safely 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 car 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 vehicleso you can take advantage of the
vehicle's built-in safety features. Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including frontal, side, and rear impacts and
rollovers.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
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.

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
Pre-Driv e Safet y Checklis t
To make sure you and your passengers get the maximum
protection from your car's safely
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 seatin the back seat (see page 20). 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 174). 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 35 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 reduces
the 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 81 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 front airbag
during a crash.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Adult s

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. 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.
Remember to keep 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.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Childre n

Children depend on adults to protect
them. However, despite their best
intentions, many parents and other
adults may not know how to properly
protect young passengers.
So if you have children, or if you ever
need to drive with a grandchild or
other children in your car, be sure to
read this section. Al
l Childre n Mus t B e Restraine d
Each year, many children are injured
or killed in vehicle crashes because
they are either unrestrained or not
properly restrained. In fact, vehicle accidents are the number one cause
of death of children ages 12 and
under.
To reduce the number of child deaths and injuries, every state and
Canadian province requires that
infants and children be restrained
whenever they ride in a vehicle.
Any child who is too small to wear a seat belt should be properly

restrained in a child seat. (See page
24.)
A larger child should always be restrained with a seat belt. (See page 35.)
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y Children who are unrestrained
or improperly restrained can be
seriously injured or killed in a
crash.
Any child too small for a seat
belt should be properlyrestrained in a child seat. A
larger child should be properly restrained with a seat belt.

Protectin
g Childre n

Childre n Shoul d Si t i n th e Bac k

Sea t

According to accident statistics, children of all ages and sizes aresafer when they are restrained in the
back seat, not the front seat. The
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration and Transport Canada recommend that all children
ages 12 and under be properly
restrained in the back seat.
In the back seat, children are less
likely to be injured by striking hard interior parts during a collision or
hard braking. Also, children cannot
be injured by an inflating airbag
when they ride in the back. Th
e Passenger' s Fron t Airba g
Pose s Seriou s Risk s t o Childre n
Front airbags have been designed to
help protect adults in a moderate to severe frontal collision. To do this,
the passenger's front airbag is quite
large, and it inflates with tremendous
speed.

Infants
Never put a rear-facing child seat in the front seat of a vehicle equipped
with a passenger's front airbag. If

the airbag inflates, it can hit the back of the child seat with enough force
to kill or very seriously injure an
infant.
Small Children

Placing a forward-facing child seat in the front seat of a vehicle equipped
with a passenger's front airbag can

be hazardous. If the vehicle seat is
too far forward, or the child's head is thrown forward during a collision, an
inflating front airbag can strike thechild with enough force to kill or
very seriously injure a small child.

Larger Children
Children who have outgrown child
seats are also at risk of being injured or killed by an inflating passenger's

front airbag. Whenever possible,

larger children should sit in the back seat, properly restrained with a seat
belt. (See page 35 for important information about protecting larger
children.)
CONTINUED
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y