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7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.
8. If your vehicle has a passenger sensing system and
the airbag is off, the off indicator on the instrument
panel will be lit and stay lit when the key is
turned to RUN or START.
If a child restraint has been installed and the on
indicator is lit, turn the vehicle off. Remove the child
restraint from the vehicle and reinstall the child restraint.
If after reinstalling the child restraint and restarting
the vehicle, the on indicator is still lit, check to make
sure that the vehicle’s seatback is not pressing the child
restraint into the seat cushion. If this happens, slightly
recline the vehicle’s seatback and adjust the seat
cushion if possible. Also make sure the child restraint is
not trapped under the vehicle head restraint. If this
happens, adjust the head restraint.
If the on indicator is still lit, secure the child in the child
restraint in a rear seat position in the vehicle and
check with your dealer.
To remove the child restraint, just unbuckle the vehicle’s
safety belt and let it go back all the way. The safety
belt will move freely again and be ready to work for an
adult or larger child passenger.Airbag System
Your vehicle has a frontal airbag for the driver and a
frontal airbag for the right front passenger. Your vehicle
may also have roof-mounted side impact airbags.
Roof-mounted side impact airbags are available for the
driver and the passenger seated directly behind the driver
and for the right front passenger and the passenger
seated directly behind that passenger.
If your vehicle has roof-mounted side impact airbags,
the word AIRBAG will appear on the airbag covering on
the garnish trim near the ceiling and the side windows.
Frontal airbags are designed to help reduce the risk
of injury from the force of an in ating frontal airbag.
But these airbags must in ate very quickly to do their
job and comply with federal regulations.
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Here are the most important things to know about the
airbag system:
{CAUTION:
You can be severely injured or killed in a crash
if you are not wearing your safety belt — even
if you have airbags. Wearing your safety belt
during a crash helps reduce your chance of
hitting things inside the vehicle or being
ejected from it. Airbags are “supplemental
restraints” to the safety belts. All airbags are
designed to work with safety belts but do not
replace them.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
Frontal airbags for the driver and right front
passenger are designed to deploy in moderate
to severe frontal and near frontal crashes. They
are not designed to in ate in rollover, rear
crashes, or in many side crashes. And, for some
unrestrained occupants, frontal airbags may
provide less protection in frontal crashes than
more forceful airbags have provided in the past.
Roof-mounted side impact airbags are designed
to in ate in moderate to severe crashes where
something hits the side of your vehicle. They
are not designed to in ate in frontal, in rollover
or in rear crashes. Everyone in your vehicle
should wear a safety belt properly — whether or
not there is an airbag for that person.
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{CAUTION:
Both frontal and side impact airbags in ate
with great force, faster than the blink of an
eye. If you are too close to an in ating airbag,
as you would be if you were leaning forward, it
could seriously injure you. Safety belts help
keep you in position for airbag in ation before
and during a crash. Always wear your safety
belt even with frontal airbags. The driver
should sit as far back as possible while still
maintaining control of the vehicle. Occupants
should not lean on or sleep against the door.
{CAUTION:
Anyone who is up against, or very close to,
any airbag when it in ates can be seriously
injured or killed. Airbags plus lap-shoulder
belts offer the best protection for adults, but
not for young children and infants. Neither the
vehicle’s safety belt system nor its airbag
system is designed for them. Young children
and infants need the protection that a child
restraint system can provide. Always secure
children properly in your vehicle. To read how,
seeOlder Children on page 1-32orInfants and
Young Children on page 1-34.
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There is an airbag
readiness light on the
instrument panel cluster,
which shows the airbag
symbol.
The system checks the airbag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an electrical
problem. SeeAirbag Readiness Light on page 3-25
for more information.Where Are the Airbags?
The driver’s airbag is in the middle of the steering wheel.
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The right front passenger’s airbag is in the instrument
panel on the passenger’s side.If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact airbag for
the driver and the person seated directly behind the
driver, it is located in the ceiling above the side windows.
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If your vehicle has a roof-mounted side impact airbag
for the right front passenger and the person directly
behind that passenger, it is located in the ceiling above
the side windows.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
airbag, the bag might not in ate properly or it
might force the object into that person causing
severe injury or even death. The path of an
in ating airbag must be kept clear. Do not put
anything between an occupant and an airbag,
and do not attach or put anything on the
steering wheel hub or on or near any other
airbag covering. And, if your vehicle has
roof-mounted side impact airbags, never secure
anything to the roof of your vehicle by routing
the rope or tiedown through any door or window
opening. If you do, the path of an in ating side
impact airbag will be blocked. The path of an
in ating airbag must be kept clear.
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When Should an Airbag In ate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal airbags
are designed to in ate in moderate to severe frontal
or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to in ate
only if the impact exceeds a predetermined deployment
threshold. Deployment thresholds take into account
a variety of desired deployment and non-deployment
events and are used to predict how severe a crash
is likely to be in time for the airbags to in ate and help
restrain the occupants. Whether your frontal airbags
will or should deploy is not based on how fast your
vehicle is traveling. It depends largely on what you hit,
the direction of the impact and how quickly your
vehicle slows down.
In addition, your vehicle has “dual-stage” frontal airbags,
which adjust the restraint according to crash severity.
Your vehicle has an electronic frontal sensor which helps
the sensing system distinguish between a moderate
frontal impact and a more severe frontal impact.
For moderate frontal impacts, these airbags in ate at a
level less than full deployment. For more severe frontal
impacts, full deployment occurs. If the front of your
vehicle goes straight into a wall that does not move or
deform, the threshold level for the reduced deployment
is about 12 to 16 mph (19 to 26 km/h), and the
threshold level for a full deployment is about
18 to 24 mph (29 to 38.5 km/h).The threshold level can vary, however, with speci c
vehicle design, so that it can be somewhat above or
below this range.
Frontal airbags may in ate at different crash speeds.
For example:
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbags
could in ate at a different crash speed than if the
vehicle hits a moving object.
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could in ate at a different crash speed than
if the vehicle hits an object that does not deform.
If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole) the
airbags could in ate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a wide object (like a wall).
If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle the
airbags could in ate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle goes straight into the object.
Frontal airbags (driver and right front passenger) are
not intended to in ate during vehicle rollovers, rear
impacts, or in many side impacts.
Your vehicle may or may not have roof-mounted side
impact airbags. SeeAirbag System on page 1-53.
Roof-mounted side impact airbags are intended to in ate
in moderate to severe side crashes. A roof-mounted side
impact airbag will in ate if the crash severity is above the
system’s designed threshold level.
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The threshold level can vary with speci c vehicle design.
Roof-mounted side impact airbags are not intended to
in ate in frontal or near-frontal impacts, rollovers or rear
impacts. A roof-mounted side impact airbag is intended to
deploy on the side of the vehicle that is struck.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
airbag should have in ated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs
were. For frontal airbags, in ation is determined by
what the vehicle hits, the angle of the impact, and how
quickly the vehicle slows down. For roof-mounted
side impact airbags, in ation is determined by the
location and severity of the impact.
What Makes an Airbag In ate?
In an impact of sufficient severity, the airbag sensing
system detects that the vehicle is in a crash. The
sensing system triggers a release of gas from the
in ator, which in ates the airbag. The in ator, airbag,
and related hardware are all part of the airbag modules
inside the steering wheel and in the instrument panel
in front of the right front passenger. For vehicles
with roof-mounted side impact airbags, there are also
airbag modules in the ceiling of the vehicle, near
the side windows.
How Does an Airbag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel
or the instrument panel. In moderate to severe side
collisions, even belted occupants can contact the inside
of the vehicle. The airbag supplements the protection
provided by safety belts. Airbags distribute the force of
the impact more evenly over the occupant’s upper body,
stopping the occupant more gradually. But the frontal
airbags would not help you in many types of collisions,
including rollovers, rear impacts, and many side impacts,
primarily because an occupant’s motion is not toward the
airbag. Side impact airbags would not help you in many
types of collisions, including many frontal or near frontal
collisions, rollovers, and rear impacts, primarily because
an occupant’s motion is not toward those airbags.
Airbags should never be regarded as anything more than
a supplement to safety belts, and then only in moderate
to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions for the driver’s
and right front passenger’s frontal airbags, and only in
moderate to severe side collisions for side impact
airbags.
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