2000 HONDA ODYSSEY back door

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

This sectio
n 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 vehicle.

Important Safety Precautions ..........

6

Your Vehicle'
s Safety Features........

7

Seat
Belts.......................................
.

8

Airbags............................................
9

Seat
s & Seat-Backs......................

10

Head
Restraints..........................
. 10

Door 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.....

19

7. Maintai
n a Proper Sitting

Position................................. 19
Advice for Pregnant Women...... 20
Additional Safety Precautions.... 20
Protecting Children......................... 22 All Children Must Be
Restrained................................ 22
Children Should Sit in the Back
Seat............................................ 23

The Passenger's Airbag Poses Serious Risks to Children....... 23
If You Must Drive with Several Children.................................... 25
If a Child Requires Close Attention................................... 25 Additional Safety Precautions.... 25
General Guidelines for Using Child Seats................................ 26
Protecting Infants........................ 30
Protecting Small Children.......... 35
Protecting Larger Children........ 39
Using Child Seats with Tethers......................................

43

Additional Informatio
n About Your
Seat Belts.................................. 45
Seat Belt System Components... 45
Lap/Shoulder Belt....................... 45
Seat Belt Maintenance................ 47
Additional Information About Your
SRS............................................
48

SRS Components........................
.
48

How
You
r Airbags Work............ 48

How the Automatic Seat Belt
Tensioners Work..................... 50

How the SRS Indicator Light
Works........................................ 50

SRS Service...................................
51

Additional Safet
y Precautions.... 52

Carbon Monoxide Hazard.............. 53

Safety Labels.................................... 54

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

Your Vehicle's Safety Features

(1) Safety Cage

(2) Crush Zones

(3

) Seats & Seat-Backs

(4) Head Restraints

(5)
Collapsible Steering Column

(6) Seat Belts

(7)

Airbags

(8)

Seat Belt Tensioners

(9)

Door Locks
Your vehicle is equipped with many
features that work together to protect

you and your passengers
during a crash.
Some safety features do not require
any action on your part. These
include

a strong steel framework
that

forms a safety cage around the
passenger
compartment; front and
rear crush zones that are designed to
crumple and absorb energy during a
crash;

a collapsible steering column;
and seat belt tensioners that
automatically tighten the front seat belts in the event of a crash.
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. I
n fact, some safety
features can contribute to injuries if they

are not used properly.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Your Vehicle' s Safet y Feature s
Seats & Seat-Back s
Your vehicle's seats are designed to keep you in a comfortable, uprightposition so you can take fulladvantage 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 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'soccupant 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.
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 vehicle 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

You
r Vehicle' 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 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 197).
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

Protecting Childre n
If Yo u Mus t Driv e wit h Severa l
Childre n
Your vehicle has two rows of back
seats where children can be properly
restrained.
If you ever have to carry a group ofchildren (when carpooling for
example), and a child must ride in
front:
Place the largest child in the frontseat, provided the child is large
enough to wear a seat belt
properly (see page 39).
Move the vehicle seat as far to the
rear as possible (see page 12). Have the child sit upright and well
back in the seat (see page 19).
Make sure the seat belt is properly
positioned and secured (see page
15). I
f a Chil d Require s Clos e
Attentio n
Many parents say they prefer to put
an infant or small child in the front
passenger seat so they can watch the child, or because the child requires
attention.
Placing a child in the front seatexposes the child to hazards from
the airbag, and paying close attention to a child distracts thedriver from the important tasks of
driving, placing both of you at risk.
If a child requires physical attention or frequent visual contact, we
strongly recommend that another
adult ride with the child in a back
seat. The back seat is far safer for a
child than the front. Additiona
l Safet y Precaution s
Use childproof door locks to
prevent children from opening the
doors. Using this feature will
prevent children from opening the doors and accidentally falling out (see page 85).
Do not leave children alone in your
vehicle. Leaving children without
adult supervision is illegal in most
states and Canadian provinces,
and can be very hazardous. For
example, infants and small
children left in a vehicle on a hot
day can die from heatstroke. And
children left alone with the key in
the ignition can accidentally set
the vehicle in motion, possibly
injuring themselves or others.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Control
s Nea r th e Steerin g Whee l

Headlight s

The rotating switch on the left lever controls the lights. Turning this switch to the position turns
on the parking lights, taillights,
instrument panel lights, side-marker
lights, and rear license plate lights. Turning the switch to the
position turns on the headlights. If you leave the lights on with the
ignition switch in ACCESSORY (I) or LOCK (0), you will hear a
reminder chime when you open the driver's door.
To change between low beams and high beams, pull the turn signal lever
until you hear a click, then let go.
The blue high beam indicator will light (see page 61). To flash the high beams, pull the
turn signal lever back lightly, thenrelease it. The high beams will come
on and go off.
The high beams will stay on for as long as you hold the lever back, no
matter what position the headlightswitch is in.
Instrument s an d Control s

Keys an d Lock s
Replacing the Battery
When the remote transmitter's
battery begins to get weak, it maytake several pushes on the button tolock or unlock the doors and the
tailgate, and the LED will get dim.Replace the battery as soon as
possible.
Battery type: CR2025 To replace the battery, remove the
round cover on the back of the trans-
mitter by turning it counterclockwise
with a coin.
Remove the old battery and note the
polarity. Make sure the polarity of
the new battery is the same (+ side
facing up), then insert it in the
transmitter. Reinstall the O-ring. Align the
mark on the cover with the
mark on the transmitter,
then set the cover in place and turn it clockwise.
CONTINUED
Instrument s an d Control s
Ope
n
Clos e
ROUN DCOVERCUSHIO N
RIN G
BATTER Y

Manual Slidin g Door s (L X Model )
Your Honda is equipped with dual
sliding doors. Be sure all passengers
are clear of the sliding doors before
closing them.
Opening and Closing the Doors
INSID E
To open a manual sliding door, pull
the inside or outside door handle andslide the door back. It will latch in
the fully-open position. To close the door, pull either handle and slide thedoor closed. Make sure the door is
closed and latched securely before driving.
Locking the Doors
Each sliding door has a lock knob
under the inside door handle. Slide
the lock knob forward to unlock, and
backward to lock.
When you drive with children in your vehicle, use the childproof doorlocks (see page 85). This will
prevent children from opening thedoors accidentally.
A Note About Refueling
Before refueling, make sure thedriver's side sliding door is fully
closed. When you release the fuel fill door, the driver's side sliding door
automatically locks so it cannot open
and interfere with the fuel door. If a
passenger attempts to unlock the door by cycling the lock knob several
times, the door may unlock and can
be opened.
If a passenger needs to get out of the
vehicle while you are refueling, instruct that person to exit on the
passenger's side, not the driver's
side.
After you close the fuel fill door, the sliding door does not automatically
unlock. You must unlock it manually.
Instrument s an d Control s
OUTSIDE