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2005 MATRIX from Sep. ’04 Prod. (OM12892U)
While the vehicle is being driven, all ve-
hicle occupants should have the seatback
upright, sit well back in the seat and prop-
erly wear the seat belts provided.
CAUTION
Do not drive the vehicle unless the
occupants are properly seated. Do
not allow any passengers to sit on
top of a folded down seatback, or
in the luggage compartment or car-
go area. Persons not properly
seated and/or not properly re-
strained by seat belts can be se-
verely injured in the event of emer-
gency braking or a collision.
During driving, do not allow any
passengers to stand up or move
around between seats. Otherwise,
severe injuries can occur in the
event of emergency braking or a
collision.
Driver seat
CAUTION
The SRS driver airbag deploys with
considerable force, and can cause
death or serious injury especially if
the driver is very close to the airbag.
The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (“NHTSA”) advises:
Since the risk zone for driver airbag
is the first 50—75 mm (2—3 in.) of
inflation, placing yourself 250 mm (10
in.) from your driver airbag provides
you with a clear margin of safety.
This distance is measured from the
center of the steering wheel to your
breastbone. If you sit less than 250
mm (10 in.) away now, you can
change your driving position in sever-
al ways:
Move your seat to the rear as far
as you can while still reaching the
pedals comfortably.
Slightly recline the back of the
seat. Although vehicle designs vary,
many drivers can achieve the 250
mm (10 in.) distance, even with the
driver seat all the way forward, sim-
ply by reclining the back of the
seat somewhat. If reclining the back
of your seat makes it hard to see
the road, raise yourself by using a
firm, non slippery cushion, or raise
the seat if your vehicle has that
feature.
If your steering wheel is adjustable,
tilt it downward. This points the air-
bag toward your chest instead of
your head and neck.
The seat should be adjusted as rec-
ommended by NHTSA above, while
still maintaining control of the foot
pedals, steering wheel, and your view
of the instrument panel controls.
Seats Front seats—
—Front seat precautions

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OPERATION OF INSTRUMENTS AND
CONTROLS
Lights, Wipers and Defogger
Headlights and turn signals94
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Emergency flashers 96
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \
. . . . . .
Front fog lights 97
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \
. . . . . . . . . .
Interior/instrument panel light control 97
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Personal lights 98
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \
. . . . . . . . . .
Windshield wipers and washer 99
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rear window wiper and washer 100
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rear window defogger 100
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \
. .
SECTION 1 5

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2005 MATRIX from Sep. ’04 Prod. (OM12892U)
For the U.S.A.
For Canada
HEADLIGHTS
To turn on the following lights: Twist
the headlight/turn signal lever knob.
Position 1—Parking, tail, license plate,
side marker and instrument panel lights
For Canada—The tail light indicator (green
light) on the instrument panel will tell you
that the tail lights are on.
Position 2—Headlights and all of the
above
For the U.S.A.—The headlight low beam
indicator light (green light) on the instru-
ment panel will tell you that the low
beams are on.
Light reminder buzzer
A buzzer will remind you to turn the lights
off when the driver ’s door is opened if you
remove the key with the headlight switch
on.
NOTICE
To prevent the battery from being dis-
charged, do not leave the lights on
for a long period when the engine is
not running.
Daytime running light system
(for the U.S.A.)
The daytime running light system can
make it easier for others to see the front
of your vehicle during the day. This sys-
tem can be helpful in many different driv-
ing conditions, but they can be especially
helpful in the short periods after dawn and
before sunset.
This system will make your headlights
come on at a reduced brightness when:
The engine is running.
The parking brake is released.
The headlight/turn signal lever knob is
in the “OFF” position.
To turn on the other exterior lights and
instrument panel lights, twist the knob to
position 1.
Twist the knob to position 2 to turn the
headlights to full intensity for night driving.
The headlights automatically switch to full
or reduced intensity depending on the
darkness of the surroundings when the
daytime running light system is activated.
Also, the other exterior lights and instru-
ment panel lights automatically turn on or
off.
Headlights and turn signals

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2005 MATRIX from Sep. ’04 Prod. (OM12892U)
The daytime running light control sensor
is on the top of the driver’s side instru-
ment panel.
Do not place anything on the instrument
panel, and/or do not affix anything on the
windshield to block this sensor.Daytime running light system
(for Canada)
The daytime running light system can
make it easier for others to see the front
of your vehicle during the day. This sys-
tem can be helpful in many different driv-
ing conditions, but they can be especially
helpful in the short periods after dawn and
before sunset.
This system will make your headlights
come on at a reduced brightness when:
The engine is running.
The parking brake is released.
The headligh
t/turn signal lever knob is
in the “OFF” position or position 1.
To turn on the other exterior lights and
instrument panel lights, twist the knob to
position 1.
Twist the knob to position 2 to turn the
headlights to full intensity for night driving.High Low beams— For high beams, turn
the headlights on and push the lever away
from you (position 1). Pull the lever to-
ward you (position 2) for low beams.
The headlight high beam indicator light
(blue light) on the instrument panel will
tell you that the high beams are on.
Flashing the high beam headlights
(position 3)—Pull the lever all the way
back. The high beam headlights turn off
when you release the lever.
You can flash the high beam headlights
with the knob turned to “OFF”.

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TURN SIGNALS
To signal a turn, push the headlight/
turn signal lever up or down to position
1.
The key must be in the “ON” position.
The lever automatically returns after you
make a turn, but you may have to return
it by hand after you change lanes.
To signal a lane change, move the lever
up or down to the pressure point (position
2) and hold it.
If the turn signal indicator lights (green
lights) on the instrument panel flash faster
than normal, a front or rear turn signal
bulb is burned out. See “Replacing light
bulbs” on page 292 in Section 7−3.To turn on the emergency flashers,
push the switch.
All the turn signal lights will flash. To turn
them off, push the switch once again.
Turn on the emergency flashers to warn
other drivers if your vehicle must be
stopped where it might be a traffic hazard.
Always pull as far off the road as pos-
sible.
The turn signal light switch will not work
when the emergency flashers are operat-
ing.
NOTICE
To prevent the battery from being dis-
charged, do not leave the switch on
longer than necessary when the en-
gine is not running.
Emergency flashers

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To turn on the front fog lights, twist
the band of the headlight and turn sig-
nal switch lever. They will come on
only when the headlights are on low
beam.
Off
On
Door
INTERIOR LIGHTS
To turn on the interior lights, turn the
dial.
The interior lights has the following posi-
tions:
Off—Turns the light off.
On—Keeps the light on all the time.
Door—Turns the light on when any of the
side doors, back door or glass hatch is
opened. The light goes off when all the
side doors, back door and glass hatch are
closed. ILLUMINATED ENTRY SYSTEM
When the dial is in the door position, the
light comes on when any side door, back
door or glass hatch is opened. After all
the side doors, back door and glass hatch
are closed, the light remains on for about
15 seconds before fading out.
However, in the following cases, the light
goes out immediately:
All the side doors, back door and glass
hatch are closed when the ignition key
is in the “ON” position.
The ignition key is turned to the “ON”
position after all the side doors, back
door and glass hatch are closed.
All the side doors and back door are
locked when the glass hatch is closed
and the light is still on.
When any side door and back door is
unlocked using either the key or the wire-
less remote control transmitter, the light
will come on and remain on for 15 sec-
onds before fading out.
To prevent the battery being discharged,
the light will automatically turn off when
the key is removed and the door is left
opened with the dial in the door position
for 20 minutes or more.
Front fog lights Interior/instrument panel light
control

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Full
intensity
position
INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTS
To adjust the brightness of the instru-
ment panel lights, turn the dial.
Full intensity position: This position always
keeps the brightness of the instrument
panel lights at full intensity even when the
tail lights/headlights are turned on.
If you have to turn on the tail lights/head-
lights in daytime, or if the daytime running
light control sensor activates in circum-
stances such as shade, the brightness of
instrument cluster will be reduced. In this
case, set the dial to the full intensity posi-
tion.Ty p e A
Ty p e B
Ty p e C
To turn on the personal light, push the
switch. To turn the light off, push the
switch once again.
AUTOMATIC LIGHT CUT OFF SYSTEM
(type B and C only)
To prevent the battery from discharging,
the lights will turn off automatically 20
minutes after you turn the ignition switch
to the “ACC” or “LOCK” position.
Type B only—The lights will come on
again when you open any of the doors,
and the lights will remain on for 20 min-
utes.
Personal lights

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Ty p e A
Ty p e B
When parking, firmly apply the parking
brake to avoid inadvertent creeping.
To set: Pull up the lever. For better hold-
ing power, first depress the brake pedal
and hold it while setting the parking
brake.
To release: Pull up the lever slightly (1),
press the lock release button (2), and low-
er (3).
To remind you that the parking brake is
set, the parking brake reminder light in
the instrument panel remains on until you
release the parking brake.
CAUTION
Before driving, be sure the parking
brake is fully released and the park-
ing brake reminder light is off.
The cruise control allows you to cruise
the vehicle at a desired speed over 40
km/h (25 mph) even with your foot off
the accelerator pedal.
Your cruising speed can be maintained up
or down grades within the limits of engine
performance, although a slight speed
change may occur when driving up or
down the grades. On steeper hills, a
greater speed change will occur so it is
better to drive without the cruise control.
CAUTION
To help maintain maximum control
of your vehicle, do not use the
cruise control when driving in
heavy or varying traffic, or on slip-
pery (rainy, icy or snow covered) or
winding roads.
Avoid vehicle speed increases when
driving downhill. If the vehicle
speed is too fast in relation to the
cruise control set speed, cancel the
cruise control then downshift the
transmission to use engine braking
to slow down.
Parking brakeCruise control