
21 Safety
Child safety
Car safety tips
For Trunk Release Handle information see
page 42 and 130.
WARNING
Children must always be suitably res-
trained 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 air-
bag.
ALWAYS use SAFETY BELTS and
CHILD 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 an enclosed
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 unlo-
ading 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
children´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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22 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 res-
traint in accordance with the manufacturer’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 res-
traints 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 24 and 25.
Saab recommends rearward facing child
restraints for children 3 and under.
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23 Safety
LATCH installationTo facilitate the proper fitting of new speci-
ally-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 the uniform method of fitting
child restraints without using the standard
safety belts. Only certain child restraints are
equipped to utilize these rigid lower ancho-
rages 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 attachment bars to faci-
litate 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 pro-
perly attached to the bars.
4 Attach the top tether strap to the in-car
anchorage and tighten according to the
restraint instructions, see page 24
and 25.
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.
For the top tether, only use the strap supp-
lied 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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24 SafetyChild 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 for the child tether
anchorage that is behind the seating
position in which the child restraint is to
be installed. Make sure it locks.
2 Place the child restraint in the rear seat.
3 Secure the lower part of the child res-
traint by means of the lower anchorages
(ISOFIX) or the safety belts as descri-
bed in the child restraint mounting ins-
truction.
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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28 SafetyAirbag 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 55
and 33). 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 refer-
red ta as ‘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 dri-
ver’s and passenger sides are used. Situa-
tions can therefore arise where only one of
the airbags inflates.
It is also possible for only the seatbelt pre-
tensioners to be activated and for the air-
bags to remain uninflated.
The entire process takes less than
0.1 second – literally, faster than the blin-
king of an eye.
These airbags are triggered only by mode-
rate to severe frontal or near-frontal cras-
hes. 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 com-
fortably.
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 front of the pas-
senger airbag.
IB419
Inflated airbag (driver side) Inflation and deflation together take less than
0.1 second.
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40 SecurityLocking by key (1)
When the car is locked and unlocked the
theft alarm is also affected.
Turn the key clockwise: all doors locked.
The trunk/tailgate release switch on the dri-
ver’s door will not work when all doors are
locked.
Unlocking by key (2)
Turn the key counterclockwise once: the dri-
ver´s door will unlock.
Turn the key counterclockwise twice: all
doors, but not trunk lid/tailgate, unlocked. The central locking can also be operated
from inside the car by means of the
switch on the center console.
To lock all doors: press the symbol side of
the switch once.
To unlock the driver´s door: press the
switch once.
To unlock all doors: press the switch
twice.
This switch is inoperative when the car is
locked from the outside using the remote
control.
The interior locking buttons on each door
affect only the respective door.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 drain on the bat-
tery. In such cases the electrically operated
seats will not function.
WARNING
Having the doors locked when you are
driving will reduce the likelihood of:
Passengers, especially children, ope-
ning 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.
IB451
Switch for operation of central locking
IB1555
2
1
Locking/unlocking by key1To lock
2 To unlock
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41 Security
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 ack-
nowledge this message. You must then
replace the battery without delay to avoid
malfunctions. The life of the battery is nor-
mally 4 years.Contact a Saab dealer to
have the battery replaced.
WARNING
If small children ride in the rear seats, the
safety locks on rear doors should be acti-
vated to prevent unintentional opening
from the inside.
IB1871
Child safety lock on rear doors
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75 Instruments and controls
Temperature control The cabin is divided into two temperature
zones:
• The driver’s zone
The passenger zone (front and rear
seats)
The desired temperature can be set bet-
ween 58 and 82°F (15 and 27°C). In addi-
tion, there are also HI and LO settings (see
below). The HI and LO settings for the pas-
senger zone can only be selected if they are
also selected for the driver’s zone.
The displayed temperature is not the abso-
lute temperature but corresponds to the
comfort level normally experienced at that
temperature after allowance has been
made for the air flow, relative humidity, solar
radiation, etc., currently prevailing inside
the car.
The most usual temperature setting is
64–76°F (18–24°C), depending on perso-
nal preference and what clothing is worn.
To allow the system time to adjust, chan-
ges in the temperature setting can only be
made in steps of 2°F (1°C).
Once the desired climate has been achie-
ved, the rear center vents can be closed
to prevent warm air being distributed at
face height.
Settings when HI
selected:
Maximum heat
Air distribution to windshield and floor
Recirculation OFF (even if manually
selected before)
Fan: high speed
Settings shown on ACC display
Settings when LO
selected:
Maximum cooling (A/C compressor will
run even if ECON manually selected
before)
Air distribution through panel vents
Fan: maximum speed
Recirculation ON
Settings shown on ACC display
IB369
Air vent at rear side window
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