2000 HONDA PASSPORT Owners Manual

If the seat belt touches or crosses
your neck, or if it crosses your
arm instead of your shoulder, you
need to adjust the seat belt anchor
height. To adjust the height of a seat belt
anchor in the front or the rear,
press the release button and slide the anchor up or down as needed
(it has four positions).
Never place the shoulder portion of a lap/shoulder belt under your
arm or behind your back. This could cause very serious injuries
in a crash.
Using the Lap Belt
Insert the latch plate into the
buckle marked CENTER.
If the belt is too short, hold thelatch plate at a right angle and
pull on the plate to extend the
belt. Then insert the latch plate
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

into the buckle, and tug on the
belt to make sure the belt is
securely latched.
Position

the belt as low as
possible across your hips. This lets your strong pelvic bones take
the force of a crash and reduces
the chance of internal injuries.
Pull
on the loose end of the belt
for a snug but comfortable fit.
If a Seat Belt Doesn't Work

Properly

If a seat belt does not seem to
work as it should, it may not protect
the occupant in a crash.
No one should sit in a seat with
an inoperative seat belt. Anyone

using
a seat belt that is not
working

properly can be seriously
injured or killed. Have your
Honda

dealer check the belt as
soon as possible.
See

page 38 for additional
information

about your seat belt
system and how to take care of
your

belts. 6. Adjust the Steering Wheel
Adjust

the steering wheel, if
needed, so that the wheel points
toward your chest, not toward your face.
Pointing the steering wheel
toward

your face provides optimal
protection from the airbag.
See page 111 for how to adjust the
steering

wheel.
Driver and Passenger Safety

7
. Maintai n a Prope r Sittin g

Positio n

After all occupants have adjusted their seats and put on seat belts, itis very important that they
continue to sit upright, well back in their seats, with their feet on
the floor, until the vehicle 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 vehicle, or by being struck by an
inflating airbag.
Remember, to get the best
protection from your vehicle'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 vehicle.
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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.

We recommend that a pregnant
woman use a lap/shoulder belt
whenever possible. Remember to
keep the lap portion of the belt as low as possible across your hips.
Pregnant women should also sit as far back as possible from thesteering 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 checkup,
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 toimprove 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. Do not place hard or sharp

objects between yourself and

an airbag. Carrying hard orsharp objects on your lap, or
driving with a pipe or other sharp object in your mouth, can
result in injuries if your airbags inflate.

Keep your hands and arms
away from the airbag covers.
If your hands or arms are close
to the SRS covers in the center of the steering wheel or on top of the dashboard, they could be
injured if the airbags inflate.
Never let passengers ride in the cargo area or on top of a
folded-down back seat. All passengers must sit in locked,upright seats and be properly
restrained by seat belts.
Do not attach or place objects

on the airbag covers. Any

object attached to or placed on
the covers marked "SRS
AIRBAG" in the center of the steering wheel and on top of
the dashboard could interfere with the proper operation of theairbags. Or, if the airbags
inflate, the objects could be
propelled inside the car and hurt someone.
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 vehicle, 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
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 21.)

A larger child should always be
restrained with a seat belt. (See

page 33.)

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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.

Childre
n Shoul d Si t i n th e
Bac k Sea t
According to accident statistics,
children of all ages and sizes are safer when they are restrained in
the back seat, not the front seat.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
recommends that all children ages 12 and under be properly
restrained in the back seat.
In the back seat, children are lesslikely 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 Airba g

Pose s Seriou s Risk s t o

Childre n

Airbags have been designed to
help protect adults in a moderate to severe frontal collision. To do
this, the passenger's 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

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

airbag can be hazardous. If the vehicle seat is too far forward, or
the child's head is thrown forward
during a collision, an inflatingairbag can strike the child with
enough force to kill or very seriously injure a small child.
Larger Children Children who have outgrownchild seats are also at risk of
being injured or killed by an
inflating passenger's airbag.
Whenever possible, larger
children should sit in the back seat, properly restrained with a
seat belt. (See page 33 for
important information about
protecting larger children.)
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To remind you of the passenger's
airbag hazards, and that children
must be properly restrained in the
back seat, your vehicle haswarning labels on the dashboard,
and on the driver's and front
passenger's visors. Please read and follow the instructions on

these labels.
I
f Yo u Mus t Driv e Wit h

Severa l Childre n

Your vehicle has three seating
positions in the back seat where
children can be properly

restrained.

If you ever have to carry morethan three children in your
vehicle: Place the largest child in the
front seat, provided the child is
large enough to wear a seat belt
properly (see page 33). Move the vehicle seat as far to
the rear as possible (see page

89).

Have the child sit upright and well back in the seat (see page
16).

Make sure the seat belt is
properly positioned and secured (see page 13). 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 canwatch the child, or because the
child requires attention.
Placing a child in the front seat
exposes the child to hazards from
the airbag, and paying close
attention to a child distracts the
driver 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 thechild in the back seat. The backseat is far safer for a child than the

front.

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Additiona
l Safet y
Precaution s

Use child-safe 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 101). Use the main power window

switch to prevent children

from opening the rear windows. Using this feature
will prevent children from
playing with the windows, which could expose them to
hazards or distract the driver (see page 103). Do not leave children alone in
your vehicle. Leaving children without adult supervision isillegal in most states and can be
very hazardous. For example, infants and small children left
in a vehicle on a hot day can
die from heat stroke. And
children left alone with the key in the ignition can accidentally
set the vehicle in motion,
possibly injuring themselves or
others.
Genera l Guideline s fo r
Usin g Chil d Seat s
The following pages give general guidelines for selecting and
installing child seats for infants
and small children.
Selecting a Child Seat

To provide proper protection,
a child seat should meet three
requirements:1 . The child seat should meet
safety standards. Th
e child
seat should meet Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
213 (FMVSS 213). Look for
the manufacturer's statement
of compliance on the box and
seat.

2 . The child seat should be of

the proper type
and
size to fit

the child.
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