2000 HONDA S2000 Owners Manual

Protecting Children
Additional Safety Precaution
• Do not leave a child alone in your
car. Leaving a child without adult
supervision is illegal
in most states
and Canadian provinces and can
be very hazardous. For example, a
small child left
in a car on a hot
day can die from heatstroke. A
child left alone with the key in the
ignition can accidentally set the
car
in motion, possibly injuring
themselves
or others.
22 Driver and Passenger Safety
General Guidelines for Using
Child
Seats
As discussed on page 20, because
your car does not have a back seat,
and because
of the passenger's
airbag hazard, we strongly
recommend that you
do not carry a
small child as a passenger
in this car.
However,
if you must carry a small
child
in this car, the child must be
properly restrained in a child seat.
The following pages give general
guidelines for selecting and installing
a child seat.
See page 26 for
additional information.
Selecting a Child Seat
To provide proper protection, a child
seat should meet three
requirements:
1. The child seat should meet safety
standards. The child seat should
meet Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard
213 (FMVSS 213)
or Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard
213 (CMVSS 213). Look
for the manufacturer's statement
of compliance on the box and seat.

2. The child seat should be of the 3. The child seat should fit the
proper type and size to fit the child. passenger's seat.
Small Children: A child who can sit
up without support should be
restrained in a forward-facing child
seat.
See page 26 for additional
information on protecting small
children. Due
to variations
in the design of
child seats, vehicle seats, and seat
belts,
all child seats will not fit all
seating positions in all cars.
However, Honda is confident
that
one or more child seat models can fit
and be properly installed in all
recommended seating positions
in
your car.
Protecting Children
Before purchasing a child seat, we
recommend
that parents test the
child seat to make sure it fits
properly
in the passenger's seat. If a
previously purchased child seat does
not fit, you
will need to buy a
different one that will fit.
CONTINUED
Driver and Passenger Safety 23

Protecting Children
Placing a Child Seat
This page briefly summarizes
Honda's recommendations on where
to place a child seat in your car.
Airbags Pose Serious
Risks to Children
The passenger's airbag inflates
with enough force to kill or
seriously injure an infant in a
rear-facing child seat.
A small child
in a forward-facing
child seat is also at risk.
If the
vehicle seat is too far forward,
or the child's head is thrown
forward during a collision, an
inflating airbag can kill or
seriously injure the child.
If a small child must ride in this
car, follow the instructions
provided in this section.
24 Driver and Passenger Safety
Passenger's Seat
Infants: Never in the passenger's
seat, due to
the passenger's airbag
hazard.
Small children: Not recommended,
due to
the passenger's airbag
hazard.
If a small child must ride
in this car, move the vehicle seat
to the rear-most position and
secure a front-facing child seat
with
the seat belt. (see page 27).
This car is not equipped with a
tether attachment point.

Installing a Child Seat
Mter selecting a proper child seat,
there are three main steps in
installing the seat:
1. Secure the child seat to the car
with a
seat belt. All child seats
must be secured to the car with
the lap part of a lap/shoulder belt.
A child whose seat is not properly
secured to
the car can be
endangered
in a crash. See page
27 for instructions on how to
secure a forward-facing child seat
in this car.
2. Make sure the child seat is firmly
secured. Mter installing a child
seat, push and pull the seat
forward and from side to side to
verify that it is secure. To
provide security during normal
driving maneuvers as well as during
a collision, we recommend that
parents secure a child seat as firmly
as possible.
However, a child seat does not need
to be
"rock solid." It may be difficult
to install a child seat so that it does
not move at
all. Some side-to-side or
back-and-forth movement can be
expected and should not reduce the
child seat's effectiveness.
Protecting Children
3. Secure the child in the child seat.
Make sure the child is properly
strapped in the child seat
according to
the child seat maker's
instructions. A child who is not
properly secured in a child seat
can be thrown out of the seat
in a
crash and seriously injured.
Storing a Child Seat
When you are not using a child seat,
either remove it and store it in a safe
place, or make sure it is properly
secured. An unsecured child seat can
be thrown around the car during a
crash or sudden stop and injure
someone.
Driver and Passenger Safety 25

Protecting Children
Protecting Small Children
The passenger's airbag poses
serious risks to small children.
If the
vehicle seat is too far forward, or the
child's head is thrown forward
during a collision, or
the child is
unrestrained or improperly
restrained, an inflating airbag can kill
or seriously injure the child.
For these reasons, we recommend
that you
do not carry a small child as
a passenger.
26 Driver and Passenger Safety
If you decide to carry a small child in
this car, follow the instructions and
guidelines below.
Child Seat Type
A child who can sit up without
support, and who fits within the child
seat maker's weight and height
limits, should be restrained
in a
forward-facing, upright child seat.
Of the different seats available, we
recommend those
that have a five­
point harness system as shown.
We also recommend that a small
child stay
in the child seat as long as
possible, until the child reaches the
weight or height limit for the seat.
Improperly placing a forward­
facing
child seat in the front
seat can
result in serious injury
or death if the airbags
inflate.
If you must place a forward­
facing
child seat in front, move
the
vehicle seat as far back as
possible and properly restrain
the
child.

Child Seat Installation
The passenger's seat belt has a
locking mechanism that must be
activated to secure a child seat.
The following pages provide
instructions and tips on how to
secure a forward-facing child seat
with this type of seat belt.
1. Move the vehicle seat to the rear­
most position. Moving the seat as
far back as possible reduces the
chance of a child being injured or
killed
if the passenger's airbag
inflates. (See page
68 for
instructions on how to adjust the
seat.)
2. With the child seat in position,
route the belt through the child
seat according to the seat maker's
instructions, then insert the latch
plate into the buckle.
Protecting Children
3. 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).
4. 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.
CONTINUED
Driver and Passenger Safety 27

Protecting Children
5. After confirming that the belt is
locked, grab the shoulder part of
the belt near the buckle and pull
up 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. It
may help to put weight on the
child seat, or push on the back of
the seat, while pulling up on the
belt.
28 Driver and Passenger Safety
6. 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
in order to remove a
child seat, unlatch
the buckle,
unroute the seat belt, and let the belt
fully retract.
Additional Precautions for Small
Children
• Never hold a small child 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 child.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the
child can be torn from your arms
during a crash. For example,
if
your car crashes into a parked
vehicle at
30 mph ( 48 km/h), a
30-lb (14 kg) child will become a
900-lb (410 kg) force, and you will
not be able to hold on.
• Never put a seat belt over yourself
and a child. During a crash, the
belt could press deep into the child
and cause very serious injuries.

Protecting Larger Children
The passenger's airbag poses
serious risks to children, including
those who have outgrown child seats.
If the vehicle seat is too far forward,
or the child's head is thrown forward
during a collision, or the child is
unrestrained or out of position, an
inflating airbag can kill or seriously
injure the child.
For these reasons, we recommend
that you
do not carry a child
passenger.
With this
in mind, following are
some guidelines to help you decide
when a given child may ride in your
car.
The Child Should Wear a Seat Belt
When a child reaches the
recommended weight or height limit
for a forward-facing child seat, the
child should wear a lap/shoulder belt.
If a child is too short for the shoulder
part of the belt to properly fit, we
recommend that the child use a
booster seat until tall enough to use
the seat belt without a booster.
The following pages give
instructions on how to check proper
seat belt fit, what kind of booster
seat to use
if one is needed, and
important precautions for a child
who must ride in this car.
Allowing a larger child to sit
improperly in the front seat can
result in injury or death if the
airbags
inflate.
If
a larger child must sit in front,
make sure the
child moves the
seat as far back as
possible
and wears the seat belt properly.
Protecting Children
Checking Seat Belt Fit
To determine if a lap/shoulder belt
properly fits a child, have the child
put on the seat belt. Follow the
instructions on page 15.
Then check
how the belt fits.
If the shoulder part of the belt rests
over the child's collarbone and
against the center of the chest, as
shown, the child is large enough to
wear the seat belt.
CONTINUED
Driver and Passenger Safety 29