2001 HONDA INSIGHT dashboard

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:
Always wear
your seat belt properly, and sit
upright and as f ar back as possible
f rom the steering wheel or
dashboard. To do their job, airbags must
inf late with tremendous f orce and
speed. So while airbags save lives,
theycancauseseriousinjuriesto
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. Inf ants
and small children are at an even
greater risk of injury or death.
Your car has a Supplemental
Restraint System (SRS) with frontal
airbags to help protect the driver and
a passenger. Airbags are
designed to deploy only during a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.
The seat belts are the occupants’
primary protection in all types of
collisions. Airbags supplement
seat belts by providing extra
protection f or occupants’ heads
and chests.
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
Airbags
What you should do:
Airbags can pose serious hazards.
Airbags of f er no protection in side impact s, rear impact s, rollovers,or minor collisions.
Airbags do not replace seat belts.
Your Car’s Saf ety Features
9

Head restraints can help protect you
f rom whiplash and other injuries.Keeping your doors locked reduces
thechanceof beingthrownoutof
the car during a crash. It also helps
prevent occupants f rom accidentally
opening a door and f alling out, and
outsiders f rom unexpectedly opening
your doors.
Move the seats
as far back as possible, and keep
adjustable seat-backs in an upright
position whenever the car is moving.
Your car’s seats are designed to keep
you in a comf ortable, upright
position so you can take f ull
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
theinsideof thecar,orbyan
inf lating airbag.
Reclining a seat-back too f ar reduces
the seat belt’s ef f ectiveness and
increases the chance that the seat’s
occupant will slide under the seat
belt in a crash and be seriously
injured.
Seats & Seat-Backs
Door L ocks
Head Restraints
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
Your Car’s Saf ety Features
What you should do:
10

Seat-backs are upright (see page).
To make sure you and your
passenger get the maximum
protection f rom your car’s saf ety
f eatures, check the f ollowing each
time before you drive away:
A small child riding in a f orward-
f acing child seat is properly
restrained (see page ). Both doors are closed and locked
(see page ).
All cargo is properly stored or
secured (see page ).
The rest of this section gives more
detailed inf ormation about how you
can maximize your saf ety.
Remember, however, that no saf ety
system can prevent all injuries or
deaths that can occur in severe
crashes, even when seat belts are
properly worn and the airbags deploy.
Occupants are sitting upright and
as far back as possible from the
steering wheel and dashboard
(see page ).
You and any adult passenger, or a
larger child who has outgrown
child seats, are wearing your seat
belts and wearing them properly
(see page ).
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26
13 12
12 130
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
Pre-Drive Saf ety Checklist
Your Car’s Saf ety Features
11

See page f or how to adjust seat-
backs.
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.
A passenger should also adjust the
seat-back to an upright position, but
as f ar f rom the dashboard as
possible. A passenger who sits too
close to the dashboard could be
injured if the airbag inflates.
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Driver and Passenger Saf ety
Protecting Adults
14 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.

Pregnant women should also sit
upright and as f ar back as possible
f rom 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 inf lating airbag.
Each time you have a check-up, ask
your doctor if it’s okay f or you to
drive.
Remember to keep the lap portion of
the belt as low as possible across
your hips.
Remember, to get the best
protection f rom your car’s airbags
and other safety features, you must
sit properly and wear your seat belt
properly.
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.
Protecting Adults
Advice f or Pregnant Women
Driver and Passenger Saf ety17
Sitting improperly or out of
position can result in serious
injury or death in a crash.
Always sit upright, well back in
the seat, with your feet on thefloor.

Carrying hard or sharp objects on
your lap, or driving with a pipe or
other sharp object in your mouth,
can result in injuries if your
airbags inflate.
If they do, they
could be very seriously injured in a
crash.
Devices intended to improve
occupant comf ort 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. Any object
attached to or placed on the covers
marked ‘‘SRS AIRBAG’’ in the
center of the steering wheel and
on top of the dashboard could
interf ere with the proper operation
of the airbags. Or, if the airbags
inf late, the objects could be
propelled inside the car and hurt
someone. If your
hands or arms are close to the
airbag covers in the center of the
steering wheel and on top of the
dashboard, they could be injured if
the airbags inf late.
Protecting Adults
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
Additional Saf ety Precautions
Do not place hard or sharp object s
bet ween yourself and an airbag.
T wo people should never use t he
same seat belt .
Do not put any accessories on seatbelts. Do not at t ach or place object s on
the f ront airbag covers. K eep your hands and arms away
f rom t he airbag covers.
18

Af ter conf irming 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
mayhelptoputweightonthe
child seat, or push on the back of
the seat, while pulling up on the
belt.Push and pull the child seat
f orward and f rom side to side to
verif y 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 f ully, 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. If you are not wearing a seat
belt in a crash, you could be
thrown f orward into the
dashboard and crush the child.
During a crash, the
belt could press deep into the child
and cause very serious injuries.
If youarewearingaseatbelt,the
child can be torn f rom your arms
during a crash. For example, if
your car crashes into a parked
vehicleat30mph(48km/h),a
30-lb (14 kg) child will become a
900-lb (410 kg) f orce, and you will
notbeabletoholdon.
5.
6.
A ddit ional Precaut ions f or Small
Children Never hold a small child on yourlap.
Never put a seat belt over yourselfand a child.
Protecting Children
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
28

Your Supplemental Restraint System
(SRS) includes:Two f ront airbags. The driver’s
airbag is stored in the center of
the steering wheel; the f ront
passenger’sairbagisstoredinthe
dashboard. Both are marked ‘‘SRS
AIRBAG.’’
Automatic seat belt tensioners
that tighten the front seat belts
during a moderate to severe
f rontal collision. If you ever have a moderate to
severe f rontal collision, the sensors
will detect rapid deceleration and
signal the control unit to instantly
inflate the airbags and activate the
automatic seat belt tensioners.
Sensors that can detect a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.
A sophisticated electronic system
that continually monitors and
records inf ormation about the
sensors, the control unit, the
airbag activators, and driver and
passenger seat belt use when the ignition is ON (II).
An indicator light on the
instrument panel that alerts you to
a possible problem with the
system (see page ).
Emergency backup power in case
your car’s electrical system is
disconnected in a crash.
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SRS Components
How Your A irbags Work
Additional Inf ormation About Your SRS
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
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