2000 HONDA PRELUDE lock

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......................
1 0

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

Door Locks...................................
11

Pre-Drive Safety Checklist......... 11

Protectin
g Adults............................. 12

1. Close and Lock the Doors......

12

2. Adjust the Front Seats..........
.. 13

3. Adjust the

Seat-Backs.............

14

4. Adjust the Head Restraints...
. 15

5. Fasten and Position the Seat
Belts...................................... 16

6. Adjust the
Steering Wheel.....

17

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 wit

h Several
Children....................................

24

If a Child Requires Close
Attention...................................
24

Additional Safety Precaution...... 24

General Guidelines for Using
Child Seats................................25

Protecting Infants........................ 29

Protecting Small Children.......... 33 Protecting Larger Children........ 36

Using Child Seats with Tethers......................................40
Additional Information About Your
Seat Belts.................................. 42

Seat Belt System Components... 42

Lap/Shoulder Belt....................... 42

Seat 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
(1 ) Safet y Cage
(2 ) Crus h Zones
(3 ) Seat s & Seat-Back s
(4 ) Head Restraint s
(5 ) Collapsibl e Steerin g Colum n
(6 ) Sea t Belt s
(7 ) Airbag s
(8 ) Door Lock s
Your car 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 acrash; and a collapsible steering

column.

These safety features are designed to reduce the severity of injuries in acrash. However, you and your
passengers can't take full advantageof 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.

Driver 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 accidentally opening a door and falling out, andoutsiders 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 have
outgrown child safety seats, are
wearing their seat belts and
wearing them properly (see page 16).

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 13). Seat-backs are upright (see page
14). Head restraints are properly
adjusted (see page 15).
Both doors are closed and locked
(see page 12 ).
All cargo is properly stored or secured (see page 135).
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 doormonitor 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 74 for how to lock the
doors.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Adult s

2 . Adjus t th e Front Seats
Any driver who sits too close to the steerin
g wheel is at ris
k of being
seriously injured or killed by striking
the steering wheel, or from being struck by an inflating airbag during a

crash.
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 steering wheel while still maintaining full control of the car.
Also make sure your front seat passenger moves the seat as far to
the

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 about
sitting 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 80 for how to adjust the
front seats.

Driver 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.

Protecting Childre n
Rear-Facing Child Seat Installation
The lap/shoulder belts in the back
seats have a locking mechanism that
must be activated to secure a child
seat.
The following pages provide instructions and tips on how tosecure a rear-facing child seat with
this type of seat belt.
1. With the child seat in the desiredback seating position, route the
belt through the child seat
according to the seat maker's
instructions, then insert the latch
plate into the buckle. 2. To activate the lockable retractor,
slowly pull the shoulder part of the
belt all the way out until it stops,
then let the belt feed back into the
retractor (you might hear a
clicking noise as the belt retracts).
3. After the belt has retracted, tug on it. If the belt is locked, you will not
be able to pull it out. If you can pull
the belt out, it is not locked and
you will need to repeat these steps.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Childre n

4. After confirming that the belt is locked, grab the shoulder part of
the belt near the buckle and pullup to remove any slack from the
lap part of the belt. Remember, if
the lap part of the belt is not tight,
the child seat will not be secure.
To remove slack, it may help to put weight on the child seat, or
push on the back of the seat, while
pulling up on the belt. 5. Push and pull the child seat
forward and from side to side to
verify that it is secure enough to stay upright during normal driving
maneuvers. If the child seat is not
secure, unlatch the belt, allow it to
retract fully, then repeat these
steps.
To deactivate the locking
mechanism and remove a child seat,
unlatch the buckle, unroute the seat belt, and let the belt fully retract.

CONTINUED

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Childre n

Rear-Facing Child Seat Installation Tips
For proper protection, an infant must
ride in a reclined, or semi-reclined
position. To determine the proper
reclining angle, check with the baby's
doctor or follow the seat maker's
recommendations.
To achieve the desired reclining angle, it may help to put a rolled up
towel under the toe of the child seat,
as shown. When properly installed, a rear-
facing child seat may prevent the
driver or a front-seat passenger from
moving the seat as far back as
recommended (see page 13). Or it
may prevent them from locking the
seat-back in the desired upright
position (see page 14).
In either case, we recommend that
you place the child seat directly behind the front passenger seat,move the front seat as far forward as
needed, and leave it unoccupied. Or
you may wish to get a smaller child seat that allows you to safely carry a
front passenger.
Additional Precautions for Infants Never hold an infant on your lap.

If you are not wearing a seat belt
in a crash, you could be thrown
forward into the dashboard and crush the infant.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the
infant can be torn from your arms.
For example, if your car crashes
into a parked vehicle at 30 mph (48 km/h), a 20-lb (9 kg) infant
will become a 600-lb (275 kg) force, and you will not be able to hold on. Never put a seat belt over yourself

and an infant. During a crash, the

belt could press deep into the
infant and cause very serious
injuries.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y