2000 Acura RL airbag off

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
Airbags offer no protection in rear

impacts, rollovers, or minor

frontal or side collisions.
Airbags can pose serious hazards.

To do their job, airbags must
inflate with tremendous force andspeed. So while airbags help save
lives, they can cause minor injuries, or more serious or even fatal
injuries if occupants are not
properly restrained or sitting
properly.

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.
Seat
s & Seat-Back s
Your car'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 energy absorbing materials in the seats.
How you adjust your seats and seat-
backs can also affect your safety. For
example, sitting too close to thesteering 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.
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 accidentally opening a door and falling out, and
outsiders from unexpectedly opening
your doors.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

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 71 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 front
airbag. Being struck by an inflating side airbag can result in possibly
serious injuries.

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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.

Additiona
l Informatio n Abou t You r Fron t Airbag s

During a frontal crash, your seat
belts help restrain your lower body and torso. Your airbag provides a
cushion to help restrain and protect
your head and chest.
Since both airbags use the samesensors, both airbags normally
inflate at the same time. However, it
is possible for only one airbag to
inflate.
This can occur when the severity of a collision is at the margin, or
threshold, that determines whether or not the airbags will deploy. In
such cases, the seat belt will providesufficient protection, and the
supplemental protection offered by
the airbag would be minimal. After inflating, the front airbags
immediately deflate, so they won't
interfere with the driver's visibility,or the ability to steer or operate
other controls.
The total time for inflation and deflation is approximately one-tenth
of a second, so fast that most
occupants are not aware that the
airbags deployed until they see them
lying in their laps. After a crash, you may see what
looks like smoke. This is actuallypowder from the airbag's surface.
Although the powder is not harmful, people with respiratory problems
may experience some temporarydiscomfort. If this occurs, get out of
the car as soon as it is safe to do so.

U.S. Owners

For additional information on how

your airbags work, see the booklet
titled SRS: What You Need to Know

About Airbags that came with your

owner's manual.

Canadian Owners

For additional information on how

your airbags work, ask your dealer
for a copy of the booklet titled SRS:
What You Need to Know About Airbags.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Additiona
l Informatio n Abou t You r Fron t Airbag s
Ho w th e SR S Indicato r Ligh t
Work s
The purpose of the SRSindicator light is to alert
you to a potential problem with your
front airbags. This light will also alert you to a potential problem with
your automatic seat belt tensioners (page 41); or your side airbags or
passenger's side airbag automatic
cutoff system (page 46).
When you turn the ignition ON (II), this indicator will light up briefly
then go out. This tells you that the system is working properly. However, if the light comes on at any
other time, you should have the
system checked by your dealer. For

example:
If the SRS indicator light does not
come on after you turn the ignition

ON (II).
If the light stays on after the

engine starts.
If the light comes on or flashes on
and off while you drive.
If you see any of these indications,
your front or side airbags may not deploy, your passenger's side airbag
automatic cutoff system may not
work properly, or your seat belt
tensioners may not work when you
need them. See your Acura dealer as soon as possible.
Driver an d Passenge r Safet y
Ignoring the SRS indicator light
can result in serious injury or
death if the airbags, cutoff
system, or tensioners do not
work properly.
Have your vehicle checked by a
dealer as soon as possible if
the SRS light alerts you to a potential problem.S R S

Additiona
l Informatio n Abou t You r Sid e Airbag s

Ho w Th e Sid e Airba g Indicato r
Ligh t Work s
The purpose of this light is to alert you if the
passenger's side airbag has been automatically shut off.
Although Acura does not encourage children to ride in the front, to help
prevent injury, your car has an automatic cutoff system for the
passenger's side airbag. This system is designed to shut off the airbag if a
child leans sideways and the child's
head is in the deployment path of the side airbag.
The side airbag may also shut off if a small adult leans sideways, or a
larger adult slouches and leans sideways, and the adult's head is in
the deployment path of the airbag. A front seat passenger should not
use a cushion or other object as a
backrest. It may prevent the cutoff system from working properly.
If this light comes on, you should
have the passenger sit upright. Once
the passenger is out of the deployment path of the side airbag,
the airbag will turn on and the light
will go out.
When you turn the ignition ON (II), the indicator light should light up
briefly and go out (see page 55). If it doesn't light, or it stays on or comes
on without a passenger in the front
seat, have the system checked. The SRS indicator light will
come on if there is a
problem with your side airbags or
the automatic cutoff system (see
page 45).
Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

S
R S

SID E

AIRBA G

Indicato
r Light s

Light s O n Indicato r
On cars with automatic lighting (see
page 64)
This indicator reminds you that the exterior lights are on. It comes on
when the light switch is in either the or position. If you turn the
ignition switch to ACCESSORY (I)
or LOCK (0) without turning off the
light switch, this indicator will
remain on. A reminder chime will also sound when you open the driver's

door.

This indicator will also come on when the light switch is in AUTO and the lights turn on automatically.
Cruise Contro l Indicato r
This lights when you set the cruise
control. See page 73 for information
on operating the cruise control.
Immobilize
r Syste m
Indicato r
This indicator comes on for a few seconds when you turn the ignition
switch ON (II). It will then go off if
you have inserted a properly-coded ignition key. If it is not a properly-coded key, the indicator will blink
and the engine will not start (see
page 78).
This indicator also blinks several times when you turn the ignitionswitch from ON (II) to ACCESSORY (I) or LOCK (0).
Malfunctio n Indicato r
Lam p

See page 284.
Supplementa
l Restrain t

Syste m Indicato r

This indicator lights when you turn the ignition switch ON (II). If itcomes on at any other time, it
indicates a potential problem with
your front airbags. This light will also alert you to a potential problem
with your side airbags, passenger's side airbag automatic cutoff system
or automatic seat belt tensioners.
For complete information, see page
45.

Side Airba g Indicato r
This indicator lights when you turn the ignition switch ON (II). If it
comes on at any other time, it
indicates that the passenger's side
airbag has automatically shut off.
For complete information, see page
47.

Instrument s an d Control s

CRUIS
E
CONTRO L
S

R
S

SID E

AIRBA G

Sea
t Heaters , Sk i Sleev e
The HI or LO indicator lights and remains lit until you turn it off by
pushing the opposite side of the switch lightly. The indicator will turn

off.
In HI, the heater turns off when the
seat gets warm, and turns back on
after the seat's temperature drops. It
continues to cycle as long as you
leave it set on HI. The HI indicator
remains lit as a reminder that you
have the heater on.
In LO, the heater runs continuously.
It does not cycle with temperature
changes.
Because of the sensors for the side
airbag system, there is no heater in
the passenger's seat-back. Follow these precautions whenever
you use the seat heaters:
Use the HI setting only to heat the
seats quickly. Select the LO
setting when the seats feel warm.
The HI setting draws large amounts of current from the
battery.
Do not use the seat heaters, even
on the LO setting, if the engine is
left idling for an extended period.
They can weaken the battery, causing hard starting. Sk
i Sleev e
The ski sleeve allows you to cany skis or other long objects safely
without soiling or damaging the interior of your car. It attaches to the
trunk pass-through.
KNO B
To use the ski sleeve: 1. Pull down the rear seat armrest. Open the trunk pass-through
cover by sliding the knob down-
ward and pulling on the cover.

Instrument s an d Control s
LI
D

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