2000 HONDA PRELUDE seats

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

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 safety 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 vehicle
so you can take advantage of the
car's built-in safety features.
Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including side and rear impacts and rollovers. (Your
airbag can only be helpful in a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.)
Help keep you from being thrown
against the inside of the vehicle
and against other occupants.
Keep you from being thrown out
of the vehicle. Help keep you in a good position
should the airbags ever deploy. A
good position reduces the risk of
injury from an inflating airbag, and allows you to get the best
advantage from the airbag.
Of course, seat belts cannot
completely protect you in every
crash. But in most cases, seat belts
can reduce
your risk o
f serious
injury.

What you should do: Always wear

your seat belt, and make sure you
wear it properly.
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.

Your Car' s Safet y Feature s

Seat s & Seat-Back s

Your car's seat
s 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 the
steering 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.
Drive r 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.

Protectin
g Adult s

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 continu
e 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 airbag.
Remember, to get the best
protection from your car's airbagsand other safety features, you must
sit properly and wear your seat belt
properly.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
Sitting improperly or out of
position can result in seriousinjury or death in a crash.
Always sit upright, well back in
the seat, with your feet on the

floor.

Protecting 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 Airba g Pose s
Seriou s Risk s t o Childre n
Airbags have been designed to help protect adults in a moderate tosevere 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 inflating airbag can strike the child
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
airbag. Whenever possible, larger
children should sit in the back seat,
properly restrained with a seat belt.
(See page 37 for important
information about protecting largerchildren.)
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y