position sensor, and passenger occupant classification sensor. In addition,
the RCM also monitors the restraints warning light in the instrument
cluster. A difficulty 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 Systemserviced at an authorized dealer immediately. Unless
serviced, the system may not function properly in the event of a
collision.
Safety belt precautions
Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.
To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit where they
can be properly restrained.
Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while the
vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the child from
injury in a collision.
All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when an air bag
supplemental restraint system (SRS) is provided.
It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or
outside of a vehicle. In a collision, people riding in these areas
are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to
ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and
safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a
safety belt properly.
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if your vehicle receives an impact of 5 mph (8 km/h) or more, the safety
belt will become locked and help reduce your forward movement.
Energy Management Feature — Front Outboard
•This vehicle has a safety belt system with an energy management
feature at the front seats to help further reduce the risk of injury in
the event of a head-on collision.
•This safety belt system has a retractor assembly that is designed to
extend the safety belt webbing in a controlled manner. This helps
reduce the belt force acting on the user’s chest.
Failure to inspect and replace if necessary the Belt and
Retractor assembly after an accident could increase the risk of
injury in a collision.
All safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder
belts. All of the passenger combination lap and shoulder belts have two
types of locking modes described below:
Vehicle sensitive mode
This is the normal retractor mode, which allows free shoulder belt length
adjustment to your movements and locking in response to vehicle
movement. For example, if the driver brakes suddenly or turns a corner
sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of approximately 5 mph (8 km/h)
or more, the combination safety belts will lock to help reduce forward
movement of the driver and passengers.
Automatic locking mode
When to use the automatic locking mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt is automatically pre-locked. The belt will
still retract to remove any slack in the shoulder belt. The automatic
locking mode is not available on the driver safety belt.
This mode should be usedany timea child safety seat is installed in a
passenger front or outboard rear seating position (if equipped). Children
12 years old and under should be properly restrained in the rear seat
whenever possible. Refer toSafety restraints for childrenorSafety
seats for childrenlater in this chapter.
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Safety belt height adjustment
Your vehicle has safety belt height
adjustments for 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 the button and slide the
height adjuster up or down. Release
the button and pull down on the
height adjuster to make sure it is locked in place.
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 seat belt and
increase the risk of injury in a collision.
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.
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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
light in the instrument cluster when the driver’s and front passenger’s
safety belt is unbuckled.
The BeltMinderfeature uses information from the front passenger
sensing system 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 front passenger sensing system.
Both the driver’s and passenger’s safety belt usages are monitored and
either may activate the BeltMinderfeature. The warnings are the same
for the driver and the front passenger. If the BeltMinderwarnings have
expired (warnings for approximately 5 minutes) for one occupant (driver
or front passenger), the other occupant can still activate the BeltMinder
feature.
If... Then...
The driver’s and front
passenger’s safety belts are
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the ON
position or less than 1-2 minutes
have elapsed since the ignition
switch has been turned ON...The BeltMinderfeature will not
activate.
The driver’s or front
passenger’s safety belt is not
buckled when the vehicle has
reached at least 3 mph (5 km/h)
and 1-2 minutes have elapsed
since the ignition switch has
been turned to ON...The BeltMinderfeature is activated -
the safety belt warning light
illuminates and the warning chime
sounds for 6 seconds every 30 seconds,
repeating for approximately 5 minutes
or until the safety belts are buckled.
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If... Then...
The driver’s or front
passenger’s safety belt becomes
unbuckled for approximately
1 minute while the vehicle is
traveling at least 3 mph (5 km/h)
and more than 1-2 minutes have
elapsed since the ignition switch
has been turned to ON...The BeltMinderfeature is activated -
the safety belt warning light
illuminates and the warning chime
sounds for 6 seconds every 30 seconds,
repeating for approximately 5 minutes
or until the safety belts are buckled.
The following are reasons most often given for not wearing safety belts
(All statistics based on U.S. data):
Reasons given... Consider...
“Crashes are rare events”36700 crashes occur every day.The
more we drive, the more we are
exposed to “rare” events, even for
good drivers.1in4ofuswillbe
seriously injured in a crash during
our lifetime.
“I’m not going far”3of4fatal crashes occur within
25miles (40 km) of home.
“Belts are uncomfortable” We design our safety belts to enhance
comfort. If you are uncomfortable -
try different positions for the safety
belt upper anchorage and seatback
which should be as upright as
possible; this can improve comfort.
“I was in a hurry”Prime time for an accident.
BeltMinderreminds us to take a few
seconds to buckle up.
“Safety belts don’t work”Safety belts,when used properly,
reduce risk of deathto front seat
occupants by45% in cars,and by
60% in light trucks.
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Reasons given... Consider...
“Traffic is light”Nearly 1 of 2 deaths occur in
single-vehicle crashes,many when
no other vehicles are around.
“Belts wrinkle my clothes” Possibly, but a serious crash can do
much more than wrinkle your clothes,
particularly if you are unbelted.
“The people I’m with don’t
wear belts”Set the example, teen deaths occur
4 times more often in vehicles with
TWO or MORE people. Children and
younger brothers/sisters imitate
behavior they see.
“I have an airbag” Airbags offer greater protection when
used with safety belts. Frontal airbags
are not designed to inflate in rear and
side crashes or rollovers.
“I’d rather be thrown clear” Not a good idea.Peoplewho are
ejected are 40 times more likely
to DIE.Safety belts help prevent
ejection, WE CAN’T “PICK OUR
CRASH”.
Do not sit on top of a buckled safety belt to avoid the
BeltMinderchime. Sitting on the safety belt will increase the
risk of injury in an accident. To disable (one-time) or deactivate the
BeltMinderfeature please follow the directions stated below.
One time disable
If at any time the driver/front passenger quickly buckles then unbuckles
the safety belt for that seating position, the BeltMinderis disabled for
the current ignition cycle. The BeltMinderfeature will enable during the
same ignition cycle if the occupant buckles and remains buckled for
approximately 30 seconds. Confirmation is not given for the one time
disable.
Deactivating/activating the BeltMinderfeature
The driver and front passenger BeltMinderare
deactivated/activated independently. When deactivating/activating
one seating position, do not buckle the other position as this will
terminate the process.
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Read Steps1-4thoroughly before proceeding with the
deactivation/activation programming procedure.
Note: The driver and front passenger BeltMinderfeatures must be
disabled/enabled separately. Both cannot be disable/enabled during the
same key cycle.
The driver and front passenger BeltMinderfeatures can be
deactivated/activated by performing the following procedure:
Before following the procedure, make sure that:
•The parking brake is set
•The gearshift is in P (Park) (automatic transmission)
•The ignition switch is in the OFF position
•The driver and front passenger safety belts are unbuckled
To reduce the risk of injury, do not deactivate/activate the
BeltMinderfeature while driving the vehicle.
1. Turn the ignition switch to the RUN (or ON) position. (DO NOT
START THE ENGINE)
2. Wait until the safety belt warning light turns off. (Approximately
1 minute)
•Step 3 must be completed within 50 seconds after the safety belt
warning light turns off.
3. For the seating position being disabled, at a moderate speed, buckle
then unbuckle the safety belt 9 times, ending in the unbuckled state.
(Step 3 must be completed within 50 seconds after the safety belt
warning light turns off.)
•After Step 3, the restraint system warning light (airbag light) will be
turned on for three seconds.
4. Within 10 seconds of the light turning on, at a moderate speed, buckle
then unbuckle the safety belt.
•This will disable the BeltMinderfeature for that seating position if it
is currently enabled. As confirmation, the restraint system warning
light will flash 4 times per second for 3 seconds.
•This will enable the BeltMinderfeature for that seating position if it
is currently disabled. As confirmation, the restraint system warning
light will flash 4 times per second for 3 seconds, followed by
3 seconds with the light off, then followed by the restraint system
warning light flashing 4 times per second for 3 seconds again.
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AIRBAG SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM (SRS)
The airbag supplemental restraint system (SRS) is designed to work in
conjunction with the safety belts to help protect the driver and front
outboard passenger from certain upper body injuries. The term
“supplemental restraint” means the airbags are intended as a supplement
to the safety belts. Airbags alone cannot protect as well as airbags plus
safety belts in impacts for which the airbags are designed to deploy, and
airbags do not offer any protection in crashes for which they do not
deploy.
Important supplemental restraint system precautions
Airbags DO NOT inflate slowly or
gently and the risk of injury from a
deploying airbag is greatest close to
the trim covering the airbag module.
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