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CAUTION
Always make sure the shoulder belt
is positioned across the center of
your shoulder. The belt should be
kept away from your neck, but not
falling off your shoulder. Failure to
do so could reduce the amount of
protection in an accident and cause
serious injures in a collision.Ta k e u p
slack
To o h i g h
Keep as low on
hips as possible
Adjust the position of the lap and
shoulder belts.
Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hipsÐnot on your waist, then ad-
just it to a snug fit by pulling the shoulder
portion upward through the latch plate.
CAUTION
High±positioned lap belts and
loose±fitting belts both could cause
serious injuries due to sliding un-
der the lap belt during a collision
or other unintended result. Keep
the lap belt positioned as low on
hips as possible.
For your safety, do not place the
shoulder belt under your arm.
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To release the belt, press the buckle±re-
lease button and allow the belt to re-
tract.
If the belt does not retract smoothly, pull
it out and check for kinks or twists. Then
make sure it remains untwisted as it re-
tracts.
ÐSeat belt extender
If your seat belt cannot be fastened se-
curely because it is not long enough, a
personalized seat belt extender is avail-
able from your Toyota dealer free of
charge.
Please contact your local Toyota dealer so
that the dealer can order the proper re-
quired length for the extender. Bring the
heaviest coat you expect to wear for prop-
er measurement and selection of length.
Additional ordering information is available
at your Toyota dealer.
CAUTION
When using the seat belt extender,
observe the following. Failure to fol-
low these instructions could result in
less effectiveness of the seat belt re-
straint system in case of vehicle acci-
dent, increasing the chance of per-
sonal injury.
Never use the seat belt extender if
you can fasten the seat belt without
it.
Remember that the extender pro-
vided for you may not be safe when
used on a different vehicle, or for
another person or at a different
seating position than the one origi-
nally intended for.
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To connect the extender to the seat
belt, insert the tab into the seat belt
buckle so that the ºPRESSº signs on
the buckle±release buttons of the ex-
tender and the seat belt are both facing
outward as shown.
You will hear a click when the tab locks
into the buckle.
When releasing the seat belt, press on
the buckle±release button on the extender,
not on the seat belt. This helps prevent
damage to the vehicle interior and extend-
er itself.
When not in use, remove the extender
and store in the vehicle for future use.
CAUTION
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the seat belt extender is not
twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and
buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact your
Toyota dealer. Do not use the seat
until the seat belt is fixed. It cannot
protect an adult occupant or your
child from injury.
ÐFront seat belt pretensioners
The driver and front passenger 's seat
belt pretensioners are designed to be
activated in response to a severe fron-
tal impact.
When the airbag sensor detects the shock
of a severe frontal impact, the front seat
belt is quickly drawn back in by the re-
tractor so that the belt snugly restrains
the front seat occupants.
The seat belt pretensioners are activated
even with no passenger in the front seat.
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This indicator comes on when the igni-
tion key is turned to the ºACCº or
ºONº position. It goes off after about
6 seconds. This means the front seat
belt pretensioners are operating proper-
ly.
This warning light system monitors the
front airbag sensors, airbag sensor as-
sembly, seat belt pretensioner assembly,
warning light, interconnecting wiring and
power sources. (For details, see ºService
reminder indicators and warning buzzersº
in Chapter 1±5.)The seat belt pretensioner system mainly
consists of the following components and
their locations are shown in the illustra-
tion.
1. Front airbag sensors
2. SRS airbag warning light
3. Seat belt pretensioner assemblies
4. Airbag sensor assembly
The seat belt pretensioner is controlled by
the airbag sensor assembly. The airbag
sensor assembly consists of a safing sen-
sor and airbag sensor.When a seat belt pretensioner is acti-
vated, an operating noise may be heard
and a small amount of smoke±like gas
may be released. This gas is harmless
and does not indicate that a fire is occur-
ring.
Once the seat belt pretensioner has been
activated, the seat belt retractor remains
locked.
CAUTION
Do not modify, remove, strike or open
the front seat belt pretensioner as-
semblies, airbag sensor or surround-
ing area or wiring. Doing any of
these may cause sudden operation of
the front seat belt pretensioners or
disable the system, which could re-
sult in serious injury.
Failure to follow these instructions
can result in serious injuries.
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NOTICE
Do not perform any of the following
changes without consulting your
Toyota dealer. Such changes can
interfere with proper operation of the
seat belt pretensioners in some
cases.
Installation of electronic items such
as a mobile two±way radio, cassette
tape player or compact disc player
Repairs on or near the front seat
belt retractor assemblies
Modification of the suspension sys-
tem
Modification of the front end struc-
ture
Attachment of a grille guard (bull
bar, kangaroo bar, etc.), snowplow,
winches or any other equipment to
the front end
Repairs made on or near the front
fenders, front end structure or con-
sole
This front seat belt pretensioner system
has a service reminder indicator to inform
the driver of operating problems. If either
of the following conditions occurs, this
indicates a malfunction of the airbags or
pretensioners. Contact your Toyota dealer
as soon as possible to service the
vehicle.
The light does not come on when the
ignition key is turned to the ºACCº or
ºONº position, or remains on.
The light comes on or flashes while
driving.
If either front seat belt does not retract
or can not be pulled out due to a
malfunction or activation of the preten-
sioner.
The front seat belt pretensioner assem-
bly or surrounding area has been dam-
aged.
The front and side parts of the vehicle
(shaded in the illustration) were in-
volved in an accident that did not
cause the seat belt pretensioners to
operate.
The front seat belt pretensioner assem-
bly is scratched, cracked, or otherwise
damaged.
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The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) airbags are designed to provide
further protection for the driver and
front passenger when added to the pri-
mary protection provided by the seat
belts.
In response to a severe frontal impact,
the SRS airbags work together with the
seat belts to help prevent or reduce injury
by inflating, in order to decrease the likeli-
hood of the driver 's or front passenger 's
head or chest directly hitting the steering
wheel or dashboard. The passenger airbag
is activated even with no passenger in the
front seat.
Be sure to wear your seat belt.
CAUTION
A driver or front passenger too close
to the steering wheel or dashboard
during airbag deployment can be
killed or seriously injured. Toyota
strongly recommends that:
The driver sit as far back as pos-
sible from the steering wheel while
still maintaining control of the ve-
hicle.
The front passenger sit as far back
as possible from the dashboard.
All vehicle occupants be properly
restrained using the available seat
belts.This indicator comes on when the igni-
tion key is turned to the ºACCº or
ºONº position. It goes off after about
6 seconds. This means the SRS airbags
are operating properly.
The SRS airbag warning light system
monitors the front airbag sensors, airbag
sensor assembly, inflators, warning light,
interconnecting wiring and power sources.
(For details, see ºService reminder indica-
tors and warning buzzersº in Chapter
1±5.)
SRS driver and front
passenger airbags
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The SRS airbag system is designed to
activate in response to a severe frontal
impact within the shaded area between
the arrows in the illustration.
There may be the case that the SRS air-
bag will not activate with such an impact
in which the occupant wearing the seat
belt correctly would not get serious injury.
The SRS airbags will deploy if the severi-
ty of the impact is above the designed
threshold level, comparable to an approxi-
mate 25 km/h (15 mph) collision when
impacting straight into a fixed barrier that
does not move or deform.If the severity of the impact is below the
above threshold level, the SRS airbags
may not deploy.
However, this threshold velocity will be
considerably higher if the vehicle strikes
an object, such as a parked vehicle or
sign pole, which can move or deform on
impact, or if it is involved in an underride
collision (e.g. a collision in which the nose
of the vehicle ºunderridesº, or goes under,
the bed of a truck, etc.).
It is possible with collision severity at the
marginal level of airbag sensor detection
and activation that only one of your ve-
hicle's two airbags will deploy.
For the safety of all occupants, be sure
to always wear seat belts.
Collision from the sideCollision from rear
Vehicle rollover
The SRS airbags are not designed to
inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a
side or rear impact, if it rolls over, or
if it is involved in a low±speed frontal
collision.
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Hitting a curb,
edge of pavement
or hard materialFalling into or
jumping over a
deep hole
Landing hard or vehicle falling
The SRS airbags may deploy if a seri-
ous impact occurs to the underside of
your vehicle. Some examples are shown
in the illustration.The SRS airbag system mainly consists of
the following components and their loca-
tions are shown in the illustration.
1. Front airbag sensors
2. SRS airbag warning light
3. Airbag module for passenger (airbag
and inflator)
4. Airbag sensor assembly
5. Airbag module for driver (airbag and
inflator)
The airbag sensor assembly consists of a
safing sensor and airbag sensor.In a severe frontal impact, sensors detect
deceleration and the system triggers the
airbag inflators. Then a chemical reaction
in the inflators momentarily fills the air-
bags with non±toxic gas to help restrain
the forward motion of the occupants.
When the airbags inflate, they produce a
fairly loud noise and release some smoke
and residue along with non±toxic gas. This
does not indicate a fire. This gas is nor-
mally harmless, however, for those who
have delicate skin, it may cause minor
skin irritation. Be sure to wash off any
residue as soon as possible to prevent
minor skin irritation.
Deployment of the airbags happens in a
fraction of a second, so the airbags must
inflate with considerable force. While the
system is designed to reduce serious inju-
ries, it may also cause minor burns or
abrasions and swellings.
Parts of the airbag module (steering wheel
hub, dashboard) may be hot for several
minutes, but the airbags themselves will
not be hot. The airbags are designed to
inflate only once.