2004 SAAB 9-5 seats

22 Safety Check that the belt is not twisted or
lying against sharp edges.
 Make sure you use the correct safety
belt buckle. The buckles for the center
and left-hand rear seats are close
together.
WARNING
Safety belts are designed to bear upon
the bony structure of the body, and should
be worn low across the front of the pelvis
or the pelvis, chest and shoulders, as
applicable; wearing the lap section of the
belt across the abdominal area must be
avoided.
Safety belts should be adjusted as firmly
as possible, consistent with comfort, to
provide the protection for which they have
been designed. A loose belt will greatly
reduce the protection afforded to the
wearer.
Care should be taken to avoid contamina-
tion of the webbing with polishes, oils and
chemicals, and particularly battery acid.
Cleaning may safely be carried out using
mild soap and water. The belt should be
replaced if webbing becomes frayed,
contaminated or damaged.
It is essential to replace the entire assem-
bly after it has been worn in a severe
impact even if damage to the assembly is
not obvious.
Belts should not be worn with straps
twisted.
Each belt assembly must only be used by
one occupant; it is dangerous to put a belt
around a child being carried on the occu-
pant´s lap.
No modifications or additions should be
made by the user which will either prevent
the safety belt adjusting device from oper-
ating to remove slack, or prevent the
safety belt assembly from being adjusted
to remove slack.
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23 Safety
Child safety

Car safety tips
For Trunk Release Handle information see
page 44 and 144.
WARNING
 Children must always be suitably
restrained in the car.
 DEATH or SERIOUS
INJURY can occur.
 Children 12 and under or
shorter than 55 inches
(140 cm) can be killed by
the airbag.
 The BACK SEAT is the SAFEST place
for children.
NEVER put a rear-facing child seat in
the front.
 Sit as far back as possible from the
airbag.
ALWAYS use SAFETY BELTS and
CHILDREN RESTRAINTS.
WARNING
Never leave children unattended in a
car, even for a short time.
– Children can suffer heat stroke – per-
haps die – in a matter of minutes.
– Children can put the car into gear and
hurt themselves or others.
 At gas stations, take the keys from the
car while filling the tank.
Never allow children to climb on top of
– or under cars.
Always look for children before back-
ing your car out of a garage or drive-
way.
 To avoid carbon monoxide poisoning,
never let a car idle in the garage.
 Supervise young children around
buckets of water while washing your
car. Small children can drown in a
short time in less than an inch of water.
WARNING
Protect children from getting
trapped in the trunk of a car
 Teach children not to play in or around
cars.
 Watch children when loading or
unloading the car so they don’t get
locked in by mistake.
Always lock the doors and trunk of
your car, and keep the keys out of chil-
dren´s sight and reach.
 Keep the rear fold-down seats closed
to help prevent kids from getting into
the trunk from inside the car.
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24 SafetyThe same attention must be given to child
safety in the car as is given to adults.
Saab recommends rearward facing child
restraints.
Children travel most safely when properly
restrained, but restraints must be suitable
for the size of the child. Always follow the
child seat/booster cushion manufacturer´s
instructions when installing these devices in
your vehicle.
Make sure you are acquainted with the
legal requirements for seating children
in the car.
Make sure that it is possible to fit a child
restraint in accordance with the manufac-
turer’s child seat instructions.
When fitting child seats in cars you must
always read the instructions supplied by
the manufacturer.
LATCHLATCH (Lower Anchorages & Top tethers
for CHildren) consists of top tether and
lower anchorage (“ISOFIX”) for child
restraints in two outboard the rear seats.
ISOFIX are lower attachments located
where the seat and back cushions come
together. Top tethers are upper attach-
ments located on parcel shelf or torsion
beam, see page 27 and 28.
Saab recommends rearward facing child
restraints for children 3 and under.
IB3126
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25 Safety
LATCH installationTo facilitate the proper fitting of new
specially-designed child restraints, rigid
lower anchorages (ISOFIX) have been
installed to the vehicle that shall be used
with the top tether anchorages in the two
outboard rear seating positions. There is an
additional top tether anchorage for the
center rear seating position that is to be
used together with the safety belt.
LATCH is a U.S./Canadian government
standard for an uniform method of fitting
child restraints without using the standard
safety belts. Only certain child restraints are
equipped to utilize these rigid lower anchor-
ages behind where the seat cushion and
seat back come together. LATCH child
seats also utilize a top tether strap that is
found on some newer child seats that still
require installation with the standard safety
belts.There are two bars attached to the car body
for each specially designed LATCH child
restraint. A small label is located on the seat
back just above the outer attachment bars
to facilitate installing the child restraint. The
label contains a circle and a rearward facing
child restraint.
1 Place the child restraint on the seat
cushion.
2 Press the child restraint rearward into
the space between the backrest and
cushion, lining up the restraint attach-
ment arms with the labels.
3 Follow the child restraint instructions to
confirm that both restraint arms are
properly attached to the bars.
4 Attach the top tether strap to the in-car
anchorage and tighten according to the
restraint instructions, see page 27 and
28.
5 Pull the child restraint to make a second
check that restraint is securely attached
at both the lower anchorage bars and
the top tether strap.
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26 SafetyFor the top tether, only use the strap
supplied with the child restraint.
Always follow the installation instructions
supplied with the child restraint.
The availability of LATCH child restraints
may be limited.
When fitting child seats in cars you must
always read the instructions supplied by
the car seat manufacturer.
IB1684
Rigid 2-point lower attachment with top
tether
IB1685
Semi-rigid 2-point lower attachment with
top tether
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27 Safety
Child tether anchorages for forward
facing child car seatsChild restraints with a tether strap must be
anchored according to Canadian and USA
laws.
If you have any questions regarding child
tether anchorages please contact your
Saab dealer.9-5 Sedan:
1 Open the cover that is right behind the
child restraint. Make sure it locks.
2 Place the child restraint in the rear seat.
3 Secure the lower part of the child
restraint by means of the lower anchor-
ages (ISOFIX) or the safety belts as
described in the child restraint mounting
instruction.
4 Route the tether under the headrest.
5 Attach the tether to the anchorage.
6 Tighten the tether so that the back of the
child restraint is pressed hard against
the backrest.
7 Pull the child restraints to make a
second check that the restraints are
securely attached at both the lower
anchorages bars and the top tether
strap.
WARNING
Child tether anchorages are designed to
withstand only those loads imposed by
correctly fitted child restraints.
Under no circumstances are they to be
used for adult safety belts.
IB1698
Child tether anchorages in parcel shelf,
Saab 9-5 Sedan
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31 Safety
Airbag The AIRBAG system comprises an airbag in
the steering wheel, a front passenger airbag
and side airbags in the front seats.
The system supplements the protection
provided by the safety belts to further
enhance the safety of the occupants.
If a fault is detected in the AIRBAG, the
AIR BAG warning light on the main instru-
ment panel will come on (see pages 56 and
36). When the system is triggered by impact of a
frontal crash, the airbags in the steering
wheel and passenger side of the dash board
are inflated, after which they deflate through
vents in the back of the bags.
The driver and passenger airbags are
so-called smart airbags. This means that
the system compensates for factors such as
the force of the collision.Note:
The sensor reacts differently depending on
whether or not the front seatbelts on the
driver’s and passenger sides are used. Situ-
ations can therefore arise where only one of
the airbags inflates.
It is also possible for only the seatbelt
pretensioners to be activated and for the
airbags to remain uninflated.
The entire process takes less than
0.1 second – literally, faster than the blink-
ing of an eye.
These airbags are triggered only by moder-
ate to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes.
They will not be activated by minor front-end
impacts, rear-end or side impacts, or by the
car rolling over.
WARNING
To reduce risk of injury:
Always wear your safety belt.
Always adjust your seat so that you
are as far back as possible but still
able to operate the pedals and reach
the steering wheel and controls
comfortably.
 Children 12 and under or shorter than
55 inches (140 cm) should always
travel in the rear seat as the car is fitted
with a passenger airbag.
Never fit a child seat in the front of the
passenger airbag.
IB419
Inflated airbag (driver side) Inflation and deflation together take less than
0.1 second.
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43 Security
If the car is left with the doors open, the inte-
rior lighting and the courtesy lights in the
doors will be switched off automatically after
20 minutes, to prevent a flat battery. In such
cases the electrically operated seats will not
function.
Child safety locksThe rear doors are equipped with child
safety locks that are operated by means of
a catch adjacent to the door lock.
Insert a key and turn the catch 45° clockwise
or counterclockwise as indicated by the
label on the door.
When the child safety catch is in the locked
position, the door cannot be opened from
the inside.
Changing the key batteryWhen the battery voltage in the key falls
below a predetermined level the Saab Infor-
mation Display (SID) will issue the following
message: ”Remote control battery low.
Replace battery.”. Press the CLEAR button
on the SID to acknowledge this message.
You must then replace the battery without
delay to avoid malfunctions. The life of the
battery is normally 4 years.Contact a Saab
dealer to have the battery replaced.
WARNING
Having the doors locked when you are
driving will reduce the likelihood of:
 Passengers, especially children,
opening doors and falling out of the
car.
 Intruders entering the car when it is
moving slowly or at a standstill.
 Injury resulting from a door bursting
open in the event of a crash.
However, you must also remember that
locked doors can hamper rescuers in the
event of a crash.
WARNING
If small children are carried in the rear
seat, the safety locks on rear doors
should be activated to prevent uninten-
tional opening from the inside.
IB1871
Child safety lock on rear doors
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