Page 41 of 447
Q: What’s wrong with this?
Y .~ can be seriol , nju your be s
buckled in the wrong place like this. In a crash,
the belt would go up over your abdomen. The
belt forces would be there, not at the pelvic
bones. This could cause serious internal
injuries. Always buckle your belt into the
buckle nearest you.
I
A: The belt is buckled in the wrong place.
1-34
Page 42 of 447
Q: What’s wrong with this?
T 1
A: The belt is over an armrest. You can be seriously
in, ,ed
if yo^. belt goes
over an armrest like this. The belt would
be
much too high. In a crash, you can slide under
~ the belt. The belt force would then be applied
at the abdomen, not at the pelvic bones, and
that could cause serious or fatal injuries. Be
sure the belt goes under the armrests.
1-35
Page 43 of 447
Q: What’s wrong with this? You can be seriously injured
if you wear the
shoulder belt under your arm. In a crash, your
body would move too far forward, which would
increase the chance of head and neck injury.
Also, the belt would apply too much force to
the ribs, which aren’t as strong as shoulder
bones. You could
also severely injure internal
organs like your liver or spleen.
A: The shoulder belt is worn under the arm. It should
be worn over the shoulder at
all times.
1-36
Page 44 of 447
Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body.
1 You can be seriously injured by a twisted belt.
In a crash, you wouldn’t have the full width of
the belt to spread impact forces.
If a belt is
twisted, make it straight so it can work
properly, or ask your dealer to fix it.
1-37
Page 45 of 447
To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
The belt should go back out of the way.
Before you close the door, be sure the belt is out of the
way.
If you slam the door on it, you can damage
both the belt and your vehicle.
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Safety belts work for everyone, including pregnant
women. Like all occupants, they are more likely to be
seriously injured
if they don’t wear safety belts.
A pregnant woman should wear a lap-shoulder belt, and
the lap portion should be worn as
low as possible,
below the rounding, throughout the pregnancy.
1-38
Page 46 of 447

The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the
mother. When a safety belt is worn properly, it’s more
likely that the fetus won’t be hurt in a crash. For
pregnant women, as for anyone, the key to making
safety belts effective is Wearing them properly.
Right Front Passenger Position
To learn how to wear the right front passenger’s safety
belt properly, see Driver Position on page
1-30,
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the same
way
as the driver’s safety belt-except for one thing.
If you ever pull the shoulder portion of the belt out all the
way, you will engage the child restraint locking feature
which may turn
off the passenger’s frontal air bag. If this
happens unintentionally, just let the belt go back all
the way and start again.
Center Passenger Position
Second Row - Lap-Shoulder Belt
When you sit in the center seat position in the second
row you have a lap-shoulder belt which works the same
way as the rear outside seat positions. To learn how
to wear this belt, see “Lap-Shoulder Belt” under
Rear Seat Passengers on page
1-4 1.
1-39
Page 47 of 447
Third Row - Lap Belt
When you sit in the center seating position in the third
row, you have a lap safety belt, which has
no retractor.
To make the belt longer, tilt the latch plate and pull it
along the belt.
To make the belt shorter, pull its free end as shown
until the belt
is snug. Buckle, position and release it the
same way as the lap part of a lap-shoulder belt. If
the belt isn't long enough, see
Safety Belt Extender on
page 1-47.
Make sure the release button on the buckle is positioned
so you would be able to unbuckle the safety belt
quickly
if you ever had to.
1-40
Page 48 of 447
Rear Seat Passengers
It’s very important for rear seat passengers to buckle
up! Accident statistics show that unbelted people in the
rear seat are hurt more
often in crashes than those
who are wearing safety belts.
Rear passengers who aren’t safety belted can be
thrown out of the vehicle in a crash. And they can strike
others in the vehicle who are wearing safety belts.
Rear Seat Outside Passenger Positions
The positions next to the windows have
lap-shoulder belts.