2003 HONDA ELEMENT Owners Manual

If you decide that a child can saf ely
ride up f ront, be sure to:Caref ully read the owner’s manual
and make sure you understand all
seat belt instructions and all saf ety
inf ormation.
Move the vehicle seat to the rear-
most position.
Have the child sit up straight, back
against the seat, and feet on or
near the f loor.
Check that the child’s seat belt is
properly positioned and secured.
Physically, a child must be large
enough f or the lap/shoulder belt to
properly f it over the hips, chest, and
shoulder (see pages and ). If
the seat belt does not f it properly,
the child should not sit in the f ront.
To saf ely ride in f ront, a child must
be able to f ollow the rules, including
sitting properly and wearing the seat
belt properly throughout a ride.
On models with side airbags,
remind the child not to lean
toward the door because of the
side airbag.Supervise the child. Even mature
children sometimes need to be
reminded to f asten the seat belts
or sit properly.
17 42Physical Size
Maturity
Protecting Children
Driver and Passenger Saf ety45

Since a tether can provide additional
security, we recommend using a
tether whenever one is required or
available. (Tethers are required in
Canada.)Remove the head restraint where
you want to place the child seat.
Your vehicle has two tether
anchorage points on the ceiling near
the hatch opening f or securing a
tether-style child seat to the vehicle. The tether anchorage points are
located under plastic covers. Select
the anchorage point you want to use,
and slide the cover to open it. You can remove the head restraint
by pressing the release button.
Using Child Seats with T ethers
Protecting Children
Driver and Passenger Saf ety46
COVERS
TETHER ANCHORAGE POINT

Make sure the removed head
restraints are secured in the cargo
area. Reinstall the head restraints
when the child seat is removed.Attach the attaching clip to the
tether anchorage point as shown in
the illustration, then tighten the
strap according to the child seat
maker’s instructions. Make sure the
strap is not twisted.Your vehicle is equipped with
LATCH (Lower Anchors and
Tethers f or Children) at the rear
seats. The lower anchors are located
between the seat-back and seat
bottom and are to be used only with
a child seat designed f or use with
LATCH.
The exact location of each lower
anchorage is marked with a small
button above the lower anchorage
point.
CONT INUED
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
Protecting Children
Using L A T CH
47
LOWER ANCHORSMARKS

To install a LATCH-compatible child
seat:Remove the plastic cover by
pulling it f orward.
Make sure there are no f oreign
objects around the anchors.
Foreign objects could get in the
way of a secure connection
between the child seat and the
anchors. Put the child seat in the rear lef t
or right vehicle seat and attach the
child seat to the lower anchors
according to the child seat maker’s
instructions.
Follow the child seat maker’s
instructions f or any additional
advice on adjusting or tightening
the fit.
1.
2. 3.
4.
Protecting Children
Driver and Passenger Saf ety48
Flexible type
Rigid type

Remove the head restraint (see
page ).
Make sure the removed head
restraints are secured in the cargo
area. Reinstall the head restraints
when the child seat is removed. Attach the attaching clip to the
tether anchor fitting and tighten
the strap according to the child
seat maker’s instructions. Make
sure the strap is not twisted.
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.This symbol on rear or f orward
f acing child seats or booster
cushions indicates the presence of
LATCH compatible hardware.
5.
6.
7.
94
Canadian model only
Protecting Children
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
L ower Universal Anchorage
System Symbol
49

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
PRESSbuttononthebuckle.
Guide the belt across your body to
the door pillar. Af ter exiting the
vehicle, be sure the belt is out of the
way and will not get closed in the
door.
All seat belts have an emergency
locking retractor. In normal driving,
the retractor lets you move f reely 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 seat belt system also
includes a light on the
instrument panel to remind you and
your passengers to f asten 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 af ter a f ew seconds, but the
light will stay on until the driver’s
seat belt is f astened. The lap/shoulder belt goes over
your shoulder, across your chest,
and across your hips.
Your seat belt system includes lap/
shoulder belts in all f our seating
positions. The f ront seat belts are
also equipped with automatic seat
belt tensioners. Seat Belt System Components L ap/Shoulder Belt
Additional Inf ormation About Your Seat Belts
Driver and Passenger Saf ety50

The seat belts in all seating positions
except the driver’s have an additional
locking mechanism that must be
activated to secure a child seat. (See
pages and f or instructions on
how to secure child seats with this
type of seat 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 f reely.
To deactivate the locking
mechanism, unlatch the buckle and
let the seat belt f ully retract. To
ref asten the belt, pull it out only as
f ar as needed.
See page f or instructions on how
to wear the lap/shoulder belt
properly.35
39
17
Additional Inf ormation About Your Seat Belts
Driver and Passenger Saf ety51

For added protection, the f ront seat
belts are equipped with automatic
seat belt tensioners. When activated,
the tensioners immediately tighten
the belts to help hold the driver and
a f ront passenger in place.The tensioners are designed to
activate primarily in f rontal collisions.
The tensioners are independent of
the airbag system, so they can be
activated during a collision that
might not cause the airbags to
deploy. In this case, the airbags
would not be needed but the
additional seat belt tension can be
helpf ul.
The tensioners will be activated in a
collision severe enough to cause the
f ront airbags to inf late.
When the tensioners are activated,
the seat belts will remain tight until
they are unbuckled in the normal
way.
The SRS indicator light will
come on if there is a
problem with your automatic seat
belt tensioners (see page ). 57
Additional Inf ormation About Your Seat Belts
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
A utomatic Seat Belt T ensioners
52