2006 MAZDA MODEL TRIBUTE sensor

To install the rear cushion
1. Insert rod ends into floor
mounting points and push the
cushion to the inboard side of
the vehicle.
2. Make sure that the hinges are
locked into place.
SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Personal Safety System
The Personal Safety System
provides an improved overall level of
frontal crash protection to front seat occupants and is designed to help
further reduce the risk of airbag-related injuries. The system is able to
analyze different occupant conditions and crash severity before activating
the appropriate safety devices to help better protect a range of
occupants in a variety of frontal crash situations.
Your vehicle’s Personal Safety System
consists of:
•Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints.
•Front safety belts with pretensioners (front row only), load limiter
(front row only), and safety belt usage sensors.
•Front passenger sensing system
•“Passenger airbag off” or “pass airbag off” indicator lamp
•Front crash severity sensor.
•Restraints Control Module (RCM) with impact and safing sensors.
•Restraint system warning light and back-up tone.
•The electrical wiring for the airbags, crash sensor(s), safety belt
pretensioners, front safety belt usage sensors, driver seat position
sensor, front passenger sensing system, and indicator lights.
2006 Tribute(j14)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
79

How does the Personal Safety Systemwork?
The Personal Safety System
can adapt the deployment strategy of your
vehicle’s safety devices according to crash severity and occupant
conditions. A collection of crash and occupant sensors provides
information to the Restraints control module (RCM). During a crash, the
RCM activates the safety belt pretensioners and/or either one or both
stages of the dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints based on crash
severity and occupant conditions.
The fact that the pretensioners or airbags did not activate for both front
seat occupants in a collision does not mean that something is wrong with
the system. Rather, it means the Personal Safety System
determined
the accident conditions (crash severity, belt usage, etc.) were not
appropriate to activate these safety devices. Front airbags and
pretensioners are designed to activate only in frontal and near-frontal
collisions, not rollovers, side-impacts, or rear-impacts unless the collision
causes sufficient longitudinal deceleration.
Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints
The dual-stage airbags inflation energy is tailored to crash severity, belt
use, driver seat position, and other factors. A lower, less forceful energy
level is provided for more common, moderate-severity impacts. A higher
energy level is used for the most severe impacts unless the driver’s seat
is forward for a small occupant. Refer toAirbag supplemental
restraintssection in this chapter.
Front crash severity sensor
The front crash severity sensor enhances the ability to detect the
severity of an impact. Positioned up front, it provides valuable
information early in the crash event on the severity of the impact. This
allows your Personal Safety System
to distinguish between different
levels of crash severity and modify the deployment strategy of the
dual-stage airbags and safety belt pretensioners.
Driver’s seat position sensor
The driver’s seat position sensor allows your Personal Safety System
to
tailor the deployment level of the driver dual-stage airbag based on seat
position. The system is designed to help protect smaller drivers sitting
close to the driver airbag by providing a lower airbag output level.
2006 Tribute(j14)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
80

Front passenger sensing system
For airbags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the airbag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, like infants
in rear-facing child seats, this occurs because they are initially sitting
very close to the airbag. For other occupants, this occurs when the
occupant is not properly restrained by safety belts or child safety seats
and they move forward during pre-crash braking. The most effective way
to reduce the risk of unnecessary injuries is to make sure all occupants
are properly restrained. Accident statistics suggest that children are
much safer when properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in
the front.
WARNING: Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
NEVER place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active air
bag. If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front
seat, move the seat all the way back.
WARNING: Always transport children 12 years old and under
in the back seat and always properly use appropriate child
restraints.
The front passenger sensing system can automatically turn off the
passenger front airbag. The system is designed to help protect small
(child size) occupants from airbag deployments when they are
improperly seated or restrained in the front passenger seat contrary to
proper child-seating or restraint usage recommendations. Even with this
technology, parents areSTRONGLYencouraged to always properly
restrain children in the rear seat. The sensor also turns off the passenger
front airbag and passenger seat-mounted side airbag (if equipped) when
the passenger seat is empty.
When the front passenger seat is occupied and the sensing system has
turned off the passenger’s frontal airbag, the “pass airbag off” indicator
will light and stay lit to remind you that the front passenger frontal
airbag is off. SeeFront passenger sensing systemin the airbags section
of this chapter.
Front safety belt usage sensors
The front safety belt usage sensors detect whether or not the driver and
front outboard passenger safety belts are fastened. This information
allows your Personal Safety System
to tailor the airbag deployment and
2006 Tribute(j14)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
81

safety belt pretensioner activation depending upon safety belt usage.
Refer toSafety restraintssection in this chapter.
Front safety belt pretensioners
The safety belt pretensioners at the front outboard seating positions are
designed to tighten the safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body
during a frontal or near-frontal collision. This maximizes the effectiveness
of the safety belts and helps properly position the occupant relative to
the airbag to improve protection. The safety belt pretensioners can be
either activated alone or, if the collision is of sufficient severity, together
with the airbags.
Front safety belt load limiter
The front outboard safety belt load limiter allows webbing to be pulled
out of the retractor in a gradual and controlled manner in response to
the occupant’s forward momentum. This helps reduce the risk of
force-related injuries to the occupant’s chest by limiting the load on the
occupant. Refer toLoad limiter featuresection in this chapter.
Determining if the Personal Safety Systemis operational
The Personal Safety System
uses a warning light in the instrument
cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer
to theWarning lightsection in theInstrument clusterchapter. Routine
maintenance of the Personal Safety System
is not required.
The Restraints control module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the airbag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
safety belt pretensioners, front safety belt buckle sensors, driver seat
position sensor, and passenger occupant classification sensor. In addition,
the RCM also monitors the restraints warning light in the instrument
cluster. A malfunction with the system is indicated by one or more of the
following.
•The warning light will either flash or stay lit.
•The warning light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is
turned on.
•A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and warning light are repaired.
If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Personal
Safety System
serviced at an authorized dealer immediately. Unless
serviced, the system may not function properly in the event of a
collision.
2006 Tribute(j14)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
82

WARNING: After any vehicle collision, the safety belt systems
at all seating positions (except the driver position, which
doesn’t have this feature) must be checked by an authorized
dealer to verify that the automatic locking retractor feature for
child seats is still functioning properly. In addition, all safety
belts should be checked for proper function.
WARNING: BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE
REPLACED if the safety belt assembly “automatic locking
retractor” feature or any other safety belt function is not
operating properly when checked according to the procedures in
Workshop Manual. Failure to replace the Belt and Retractor
assembly could increase the risk of injury in collisions.
Safety belt height adjustment
Your vehicle has safety belt height
adjustments at the front outboard
seating positions. Adjust the height
of the shoulder belt so the belt rests
across the middle of your shoulder.
To adjust the shoulder belt height,
squeeze and hold the buttons on the
side and slide the height adjuster up
or down. Release the buttons and
pull down on the height adjuster to
make sure it is locked in place.
WARNING: Position the safety belt height adjusters so that the
belt rests across the middle of your shoulder. Failure to adjust
the safety belt properly could reduce the effectiveness of the
safety belt and increase the risk of injury in a collision.
Safety belt pretensioner
Your vehicle is equipped with safety belt pretensioners at the driver and
right front passenger seating positions.
The safety belt pretensioner removes some slack from the safety belt
system at the start of a crash. The safety belt pretensioner uses the
same crash sensor system as the front airbags and side-curtain airbags (if
equipped). When the safety belt pretensioner deploys, the lap and
shoulder belt are tightened.
2006 Tribute(j14)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
87

WARNING: Failure to inspect and if necessary replace the
safety belt assembly under the above conditions could result in
severe personal injuries in the event of a collision.
Refer toInteriorin theCleaningchapter.
Safety belt warning light and indicator chime
The safety belt warning light illuminates in the instrument cluster and a
chime sounds to remind the occupants to fasten their safety belts.
Conditions of operation
If... Then...
The driver’s safety belt is not
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the ON
position...The safety belt warning light
illuminates 1-2 minutes and the
warning chime sounds 4-8 seconds.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled while the indicator
light is illuminated and the
warning chime is sounding...The safety belt warning light and
warning chime turn off.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the ON
position...The safety belt warning light and
indicator chime remain off.
BeltMinder
The BeltMinderfeature is a supplemental warning to the safety belt
warning function. This feature provides additional reminders by
intermittently sounding a chime and illuminating the safety belt warning
lamp in the instrument cluster when the driver’s and front passenger’s
safety belt is unbuckled.
The BeltMinderfeature uses information from the passenger occupant
classification sensor to determine if a front seat passenger is present and
therefore potentially in need of a warning. To avoid activating the
BeltMinderfeature for objects placed in the front passenger seat,
warnings will only be given to large front seat occupants as determined
by the passenger occupant classification sensor.
2006 Tribute(j14)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
90

WARNING: The driver should always hold onto only the rim of
the steering wheel. Never place your arm over the airbag
module or anywhere inside the rim as a deploying airbag can
result in serious arm fractures or other injuries.
Steps you can take to properly position yourself away from the airbag:
•Move your seat to the rear as far as you can while still reaching the
pedals comfortably.
•Recline the seat slightly (one or two notches) from the upright
position.
WARNING: Do not put anything on or over the airbag module
including hands or feet. Placing objects on or over the airbag
inflation area may cause those objects to be propelled by the
airbag into your face and torso causing serious injury.
WARNING: Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the
Airbag Supplemental Restraint Systems or its fuses. See your
authorized Mazda dealership.
WARNING: Modifications to the front end of the vehicle,
including frame, bumper, front end body structure, tow hooks,
and snow plows may affect the performance of the airbag
sensors increasing the risk of injury. Do not modify the front
end of the vehicle.
WARNING: Additional equipment may affect the performance
of the airbag sensors increasing the risk of injury. Consult your
authorized Mazda dealership before installation of additional
equipment.
2006 Tribute(j14)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
96

Children and airbags
For additional important safety
information, read all information on
safety restraints in this guide.
WARNING: Children must
always be properly restrained.
Accident statistics suggest that
children are safer when
properly restrained in the rear
seating positions rather than
in the front seating position.
Failure to follow these
instructions may increase the
risk of injury in a collision.
WARNING: Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
NEVER place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active
airbag. If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front
seat, move the seat all the way back. Secure the seat and the
child in it properly.
How does the airbag supplemental restraint system work?
The airbag SRS is designed to
activate when the vehicle sustains
longitudinal deceleration sufficient
to cause the sensors to close an
electrical circuit that initiates airbag
inflation.
The fact that the airbags did not
inflate in a collision does not mean
that something is wrong with the
system. Rather, it means the forces
were not of the type sufficient to
cause activation. Airbags are designed to inflate in frontal and
near-frontal collisions, not rollover, side-impact, or rear-impacts unless
the collision causes sufficient longitudinal deceleration.
2006 Tribute(j14)
Owners Guide (post-2002-fmt)
USA(fus)
Seating and Safety Restraints
97