2000 HONDA PRELUDE steering wheel

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

Your Car' s Safet y Feature s

Airbag s

Your car has a Supplementa
l
Restraint System (SRS) with frontal
airbags to help protect the driver and
a front seat passenger.
This system also includesan indicator light on the
instrument panel to alert you to a
possible problem with the system. The most important things you need
to know about your airbags are:

Airbags do not replace seat belts.

The seat belts are the occupants' primary protection in all types of
collisions. The airbags supplement
the seat belts by providing extra
protection for the head and chest
of each front seat occupant in a
moderate t

o severe frontal
collision.
Airbags offer no protection in side

impacts, rear impacts, rollovers,
or minor collisions. Airbags are

designed to deploy only during a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.
Airbags can pose serious hazards.

To do their job, airbags must inflate with tremendous force and
speed. So while airbags save lives,
they can cause serious injuries to adults and larger children who arenot wearing seat belts, are not
wearing them properly, are sitting too close to the airbag, or are notsitting in a proper position. Infants
and small children are at an even
greater risk of injury or death.

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.

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

SRS

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

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 Adult s
3. Adjus t th e Seat-Back s
Adjust the driver's seat-back to a comfortable, upright position,leaving ample space between your
chest and the airbag cover in the
center of the steering wheel. If you
sit too close to the steering wheel,
you could be injured if the airbag
inflates.
A front passenger should also adjust the seat-back to an upright position,
but as far from the dashboard as possible. A passenger who sits too
close to the dashboard could be
injured if the airbag inflates.
Reclining a seat-back so that the
shoulder part of the belt no longer
rests against the occupant's chest
reduces the protective capability of
the belt. It also increases the chance of sliding under the belt in a crash
and being seriously injured. The
farther a seat-back is reclined, the
greater the risk of injury. See page 80 for how to adjust seat-
backs.
Drive
r an d Passenge r Safet y
Reclining the seat-back too far
can result in serious injury or
death in a crash.
Adjust the seat-back to an
upright position and sit well
back in the seat.

Protectin
g Adult s

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 42 for additional
information about your seat belt
system and how to take care of your

belts.
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 66 for how to adjust the
steering wheel.
Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

Protecting Adult s
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.
Remember to keep the lap portion of
the belt as low as possible across
your hips. Pregnant women should also sit
upright and as far back as possible
from the steering 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 check-up, 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 to improve
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.
CONTINUED
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y