
3Driver and Passenger Safety
This section gives you important
information about how to protect
you and your passengers. It shows
how to use seat belts properly. It
explains the Supplemental
Restraint System. And it tells you
how to properly restrain infants
and children in your vehicle.
Important Safety Precautions
4
. .
Your Vehicle’s Safety Features 5
Seat Belts 6
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Airbags 7
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seats and Seat-Backs 8
. . . . . .
Head Restraints 8
. . . . . . . . . .
Door Locks 9
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pre-Drive Safety Checklist 9
.
Protecting Adults 10
. . . . . . . . . .
1. Close and Lock the Doors 10
2. Adjust the Front Seats 10
. .
3. Adjust the Seat-Backs 11
. .
4. Adjust the Head Restraints12 5. Fasten and Position
the Seat Belts 13
. . . . . . . . .
6. Adjust the Steering Wheel15
7. Maintain a Proper Sitting Position 16
. . . . . . .
Advice for Pregnant Women 16
Additional Safety Precautions 17
Protecting Children 18
. . . . . . . .
All Children Must
Be Restrained 18
. . . . . . . . . .
Children Should Sit in
the Back Seat 19
. . . . . . . . . .
The Passenger’s Airbag Poses
Serious Risks to Children 19
If You Must Drive With
Several Children 20
. . . . . . .
If a Child Requires
Close Attention 21
. . . . . . . .
Additional Safety Precautions 21
General Guidelines for
Using Child Seats 22
. . . . . .
Protecting Infants 26
. . . . . . .
Protecting Small Children 31
. Protecting Larger Children
34
Using Child Seats
With Tethers 38
. . . . . . . . . . .
Using LATCH 39
. . . . . . . . . .
Additional Information About
Your Seat Belts 41
. . . . . . . . . . .
Seat Belt System
Components 41
. . . . . . . . . . .
Lap/Shoulder Belt 41
. . . . . . .
Lap Belt 42
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seat Belt Maintenance 42
. . . .
Additional Information About
Your SRS 43
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SRS Components 43
. . . . . . . .
How Your Airbags Work 44
. .
How Your SRS Indicator
Light Works 45
. . . . . . . . . . .
SRS Service 46
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Additional Safety Precautions 46
Carbon Monoxide Hazard 47
. . .
Safety Labels 48
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Driver and Passenger Safety

4Driver and Passenger Safety
Yo u
’ll find many safety
recommendations throughout this
section, and throughout this
manual. The recommendations on
this page are the ones we consider
to be the most important.
Always Wear Your Seat Belt
A seat belt is your best protection
in all types of collisions. Airbags
supplement seat belts, but airbags
are designed to inflate only in a
moderate to severe frontal
collision. So even though your
vehicle is equipped with airbags,
make sure you and your
passengers always wear your seat
belts, and wear them properly.
(See page 13.)
Restrain All Children
Children are safest when they are
properly restrained in the back
seat, not the front seat. A child
who is too small for a seat belt must be properly restrained in a
child safety seat. (See page 18.)
Be Aware of Airbag Hazards
While airbags save lives, they can
cause serious or fatal injuries to
occupants who sit too close to
them, or are not properly
restrained. Infants, young
children, and short adults are at
the greatest risk. Be sure to follow
all instructions and warnings in
this manual. (See page 7.)
Don’t Drink and Drive
Alcohol and driving don
’t mix.
Even one drink can reduce your
ability to respond to changing
conditions, and your reaction time
gets worse with every additional
drink. So don’ t drink and drive,
and don’ t let your friends drink
and drive either. Control Your Speed
Excessive speed is a major factor
in crash injuries and deaths.
Generally, the higher the speed
the greater the risk, but serious
accidents can also occur at lower
speeds. Never drive faster than is
safe for current conditions,
regardless of the maximum speed
posted.
Keep Your Vehicle in Safe
Condition
Having a tire blowout or a
mechanical failure can be
extremely hazardous. To reduce
the possibility of such problems,
check your tire pressure and
condition frequently, and perform
all regularly scheduled
maintenance. (See page 204.)
Important Safety Precautions

6Driver and Passenger Safety
some safety features can
contribute to injuries if they are
not used properly.
Seat Belts
For your safety, and the safety of
your passengers, your vehicle is
equipped with seat belts in all
seating positions.
Your seat belt system
also includes a light on
the instrument panel to remind
you and your passengers to fasten
your seat belts.
Why Wear Seat Belts
Seat belts are the single most
effective safety device for adults
and larger children. (Infants and
smaller children must be properly
restrained in child seats.) Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
though your vehicle has airbags.
In addition, most states and
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
passengers 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. In a rollover crash,
an unbelted person is more
likely to die than a person
wearing a seat belt. Your airbag
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.

8Driver and Passenger Safety
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
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.
Seats and Seat-Backs
Your vehicle’ s seats 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 vehicle, 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
vehicle is moving.
Head Restraints
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.

belts and wearing them
properly (see page 13).
9Driver and Passenger Safety
Door Locks
Keeping your doors locked
reduces the chance of being
thrown out of the vehicle during
a crash. It also helps prevent
occupants from accidentally
opening a door and falling out,
and outsiders from unexpectedly
opening your doors.
Pre-Drive Safety Checklist
To make sure you and your
passengers get the maximum
protection from your vehicle’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
•Any infant or small child is
properly restrained in a child
seat in the back seat (see page
18).
•Front seat occupants are sitting
upright and as far back as
possible from the steering
wheel and dashboard (see page
10).
•Seat-backs are upright (see
page 11).
•Head restraints are properly
adjusted (see page 12).
•All doors and the tailgate are
closed and locked (see page
10).
•All cargo is properly stored or
secured (see page 175). 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.

10Driver and Passenger Safety
Introduction
The following pages provide
instructions on how to properly
protect the driver and other adult
occupants.
These instructions also apply to
children who have outgrown child
seats and are large enough to wear
lap/shoulder belts. (See page 34
for important additional
guidelines on how to properly
protect larger children.)
1. Close and Lock the Doors
After everyone has entered the
vehicle, be sure the doors and
tailgate are closed and locked.
For safety, locking the doors
reduces the chance that a
passenger, especially a child, will
open a door while the vehicle is
moving and accidentally fall out.It also reduces the chance of
someone being thrown out of the
vehicle during a crash.
For security, locked doors can
prevent an outsider from
unexpectedly opening a door
when you come to a stop.
See page 104 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 the inflating
airbag during a crash.
Protecting Adults

16Driver and Passenger Safety
7. Maintain a Proper SittingPosition
After all occupants have adjusted
their seats and put on seat belts, it
is very important that they
continue to sit upright, well back
in their seats, with their feet on
the floor, until the vehicle is
parked and the engine is off.
Sitting improperly can increase
the chance of injury during a
crash. For example, if an occupant
slouches, lies down, turns
sideways, sits forward, leans
forward or sideways, or puts one
or both feet up, the chance of
injury during a crash is greatly
increased.
In addition, an occupant who is
out of position in the front seat
can be seriously or fatally injured
by striking interior parts of the vehicle, or by being struck by an
inflating airbag.
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 the
floor.
Remember, to get the best
protection from your vehicle
’s
airbags and other safety features,
you must sit properly and wear
your seat belt properly.
Advice for Pregnant Women
Because protecting the mother is
the best way to protect her unborn
child, a pregnant woman should

17Driver and Passenger Safety
always wear a seat belt whenever
she drives or rides in a vehicle.
We recommend that a pregnant
woman use a lap/shoulder belt
whenever possible. Remember to
keep the lap portion of the belt as
low as possible across your hips.
Pregnant women should also sit 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 checkup,
ask your doctor if it’
s okay for
you to drive.
Additional Safety
Precautions
•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.
•Do not place hard or sharp
objects between yourself and
an airbag. 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.
•Keep your hands and arms
away from the airbag covers.
If your hands or arms are close
to the SRS covers in the center
of the steering wheel or on top
of the dashboard, they could be
injured if the airbags inflate.
•Never let passengers ride in
the cargo area or on top of a
folded-down back seat.
All
passengers must sit in locked,
upright seats and be properly
restrained by seat belts.
•Do not attach or place objects
on the airbag covers. 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 interfere
with the proper operation of the
airbags. Or, if the airbags
inflate, the objects could be
propelled inside the car and
hurt someone.