' '~'' :: ''
HEADLIGHtS/JUAN SIGNALS. .... . ..
(P751) .
HOOD RELEASE HANDLE (P.118) CRl.JISECONTROLMASTER SWITCH (P.55) HORN
Your Car at a Glance
WINDSHIELD WIPERS/
WASHERS
(P.53)
3
This section gives you important
information about how to protect
yourself and your passenger.
It
shows you how to use seat belts
properly.
It explains your Supple
mental Restraint System. And it tells
you how to properly restrain children
in your car. Important
Safety
Precautions .......... 6
Your Car's Safety
Features .............. 7
Seat Belts ........................................ 8
Airbags ............................................ 9
Seats
& Seat-Backs ...................... 10
Head Restraints ........................... 10
Door Locks ................................... 10
Pre-Drive Safety Checklist ......... 11
Protecting Adults ............................. 12
1. Close and Lock the Doors ...... 12
2. Adjust the Front Seats ............ 12
3. Adjust the Seat-Backs ............. 13
4. Fasten and Position the Seat
Belts ......................................
15
5. Maintain a Proper Sitting
Position ................................. 16
Advice for Pregnant Women ...... 17
Additional Safety Precautions .... 18
Protecting Children ......................... 19
All Children Must Be
Restrained ................................
19
Your Car is Not Recommended
for Child
Passengers ............... 20
The Passenger's Air bag Poses
Serious Risks to Children ....... 20
Additional Safety Precaution ...... 22
Driver and Passenger Safety
General Guidelines for Using
Child Seats ................................
22
Protecting Small Children .......... 26
Protecting Larger Children ........ 29
Additional Information About Your
Seat Belts ..................................
33
Seat Belt System Components ... 33
Lap/Shoulder Belt.. ..................... 33
Seat Belt Maintenance ................ 34
Additional Information About Your
SRS ............................................ 35
SRS Components ......................... 35
How Your Air bags
Work ............ 35
How
the Automatic Seat Belt
Tensioners Work ..................... 37
How
the SRS Indicator Light
Works ........................................ 37
SRS Service ................................... 38
Additional Safety
Precautions .... 38
Carbon Monoxide Hazard .............. 39
Safety Labels ....................................
40
Driver and Passenger Safety 5
Your Car's Safety Features
Seat Belts
For your safety, and the safety of
your passenger, your car is equipped
with seat belts in both seating
positions.
ITl Your seat belt system also
L:::D:..J includes a light on the
instrument panel to remind you and
your passenger to fasten your seat
belts.
Why Wear Seat Belts
Seat belts have proven to be the
single most effective safety device.
Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance
of serious
injury or death
in a crash, even
though your car has airbags.
8 Driver and Passenger Safety
In addition, most states and all
Canadian provinces require you to
wear seat belts.
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
passenger
always wear seat
belts and wear them properly.
When properly worn, seat belts:
• Keep you connected to the vehicle
so you can take advantage
of the
vehicle's built-in safety features.
• Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including side and
rear impacts and rollovers. (Your
air bag 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 air bag, 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 of serious
injury.
What you should do: Always wear
your seat belt, and make sure you
wear it properly.
Airbags
Your car has a Supplemental
Restraint System
(SRS) with frontal
airbags to help protect the driver and
a passenger.
~ This system also includes
~ an 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. Airbags supplement
seat belts
by providing extra
protection for occupants' heads
and chests.
• Airbags offer no protection in side
impacts, rear impacts, rollovers,
or
minor collisions. Air bags are
designed to deploy only during a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.
Your Car's Safety Features
• 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 are
not wearing seat belts, are not
wearing
them properly, are sitting
too close to the airbag,
or are not
sitting 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 and Passenger Safety 9
Protecting Adults
Introduction
The following pages provide
instructions on how to properly
protect adult occupants.
These instructions also apply to a
child whom you have decided is
large enough and mature enough to
ride as a passenger. (See page
29 for
important additional guidelines on
how to properly protect larger
children.)
1. Close and Lock the Doors
After everyone has entered the car,
be sure the doors are closed and
locked.
12
Driver and Passenger Safety
~ Your car has a door
~ monitor 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
58 for how to lock the
doors.
2.Adjust the Front Seats
Any driver who sits too close to the
steering wheel is at risk of being
seriously injured or killed by striking
the steering wheel,
or from being
struck by an inflating airbag during a
crash.
Seat Belt System Components
Your seat belt system includes lap/
shoulder belts in both seating
positions.
The seat belts are also equipped with
automatic seat belt tensioners.
~ The system also includes a
l±J light on the instrument
panel to remind you and your
passenger to fasten your belts.
If the
driver's seat belt is not fastened
before the ignition is turned
ON (II),
the light will come on and a beeper
will also sound.
The beeper will stop
after a few seconds,
but the light will
stay on until the driver's seat belt is
fastened.
Additional Information About Your Seat Belts
Lap/Shoulder Belt
This seat belt has a single belt that
goes over your shoulder, across your
chest and across your hips.
To fasten the belt, insert the latch
plate into the buckle, then tug on the
belt to make sure the buckle is
latched.
To unlock the belt, push the red
PRESS button on the buckle. Guide
the belt across your body to the door
pillar. After exiting the car, be sure
the belt is out of
the way and will not
get closed in the door.
Both seat belts have an emergency
locking retractor.
In normal driving,
the retractor lets
you move freely
in your seat while it
keeps some tension on the belt.
During a collision or sudden stop,
the retractor automatically locks the
belt to help restrain your body.
The passenger's seat belt has an
additional locking mechanism that
must be activated to secure a child
seat. (See page
27 for instructions on
how to secure a forward-facing child
seat with this type of belt.)
If the shoulder part of the belt is
pulled
all the way out, the locking
mechanism will activate.
The belt
will retract, but it will not allow the
passenger to move freely.
CONTINUED
Driver and Passenger Safety 33
SRS Components
Your Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS) includes:
• Two front airbags. The driver's
airbag is stored
in the center of
the steering wheel; the front
passenger's airbag is stored
in the
dashboard. Both are marked
"SRS
AIRBAG."
•
Automatic seat belt tensioners
that tighten
the front seat belts
during a moderate to severe
frontal collision.
• Sensors that can detect a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.
• A sophisticated electronic system
that continually monitors the
sensors, control unit, the airbag
activators, and all related wiring
when the ignition is
ON (II).
Additional Information About Your SRS
• An indicator light on the How Your Airbags Work
instrument panel that alerts you to
a possible problem with the
system (see page
37).
• Emergency backup power in case
your car's electrical system
is
disconnected in a crash.
If you ever have a moderate to
severe frontal collision, the sensors
will detect rapid deceleration and
signal the control unit to instantly
inflate the airbags and activate the
automatic seat belt tensioners.
CON11NUED
Driver and Passenger Safety 35
How the Automatic Seat Belt
Tensioners Work
Your Honda has automatic seat belt
tensioners for added protection
during a moderate to severe frontal
collision.
If your airbags inflate, the tensioners
immediately tighten the front
seat
belts to help hold the occupants in
place.
The belts will remain tight
until you unbuckle
them in the
normal way.
Additional Information About Your SRS
How the SRS Indicator Light
Works
~ ~he J?Urpose of the SRS
~ hght 1s to alert you to a
potential problem with your
Supplemental Restraint System.
When you turn the ignition
ON (II),
this indicator will light up briefly
then go out. This tells you that the
system is working properly.
However,
if the light comes on at any
other time, you should have the
system checked by your dealer. For
example:
• If the SRS indicator light does not
come on after you turn the ignition
ON(II).
• If the light stays on after the
engine starts.
• If the light comes on or flashes on
and off while you drive.
If you see any of these indications,
your airbags and
seat belt tensioners
may not deploy when you need them.
See your Acura dealer as soon as
possible.
Ignoring the SRS indicator light
can result in serious injury or
death if the airbags do not
inflate when needed.
Have your
vehicle checked by a
dealer as soon as possible if
the SRS
light alerts you to a
potential problem.
Driver and Passenger Safety 37