2007 Acura TL Owner's Manual

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You’ll
find many safety
recommendations throughout this
section, and throughout this manual.
Therecommendationsonthispage
are the ones we consider to be the
most important.
A seat belt is your best protection in
all typ es of collisions. Airbags are
designed to supplement seat belts,
not replace them. So even though
your vehicle is equipped with airbags,
make sure you and your passengers
always wear your seat belts, and
wear them properly (see page ).
Alcohol and driving don’t mix. Even
one drink can reduce your ability to
respond to changing conditions, and
your reaction time gets worse with every
additional drink. So don’t drink
and drive, and don’t let your friends
drink and drive, either.
While airbags can save lives, they
can cause serious or fatal injuries to
occupants who sit too close to them,
or are not properly restrained.
Infants, young children, and short
adults are at the greatest risk. Be
su re to follow all instru ctions and
warnings in this manual.
Children
age 12 and under should
ride properly restrained in a back
seat, not the front seat. Infants and
smallchildrenshouldberestrained
in a child seat. Larger children
should use a booster seat and a lap/
shoulder belt until they can use the
belt properly without a booster seat
(see pages ).
Having a tire blowout or a
mech anical failure can be extremely
hazardous. To reduce the possibility
of such problems, check your tire
pressures and condition frequently,
and perform all regularly scheduled
maintenance (see page ). Excessive speed is a major f actor in
crash injuries and deaths. Generally,
the higher the speed, the greater the
risk, but serious injuries can also
occur at lower speeds. Never drive
f aster than is saf e f or current
conditions, regardless of the
maximum speed posted.
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278
Important Saf ety Precautions
Always Wear Your Seat Belt
Don’t Drink and Drive Be Aware of Airbag Hazards Restrain All ChildrenK eep Your Vehicle in Saf e
Condition Control Your Speed
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Your vehicle is equipped with many
features that work together to
protect you and your passengers
during a crash.
Some f eatures do not require any
action on your part. These include a
strong steel f ramework that f orms a
saf ety cage around the passenger
compartment; front and rear crush
zones; a collapsible steering column;
and tensioners that tighten the f ront
seat belts in a crash.
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Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
7
(1)(4)
(3)
(7)
(2)
(6)
(5)
(2)
(8) (10) (9)
(9)
(8)
(11)
(7)
(1) Safety Cage
(2) Crush Zones
(3) Seats and Seat-Backs
(4) Head Restraints
(5) Collapsible Steering Column
(6) Seat Belts
(7) Front Airbags
(8) Side Airbags
(9) Side Curtain Airbags
(10) Door Locks
(11) Automatic Seat Belt Tensioners
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Your vehicle is equipped with seat
belts in all seating positions.
However, you and your passengers
can’t take f ull advantage of these
f eatures unless you remain sitting in
a proper position and
. In f act, some saf ety
f eatures can contribute to injuries if
they are not used properly.
The f ollowing pages explain how you
cantakeanactiveroleinprotecting
yourself and your passengers. Seat belts are the single most effectivesafetydeviceforadultsand
larger children. (Inf ants and smaller
children must be properly restrained
in child seats.)
Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
though your vehicle has airbags.
In addition, most states and all
Canadian provinces require you to
wear seat belts.When properly worn, seat belts:
Keep you connected to the vehicle
so you can take advantage of the
vehicle’s built-in saf ety f eatures.
Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including f rontal,
side and rear impacts, and
rollovers.
Your seat belt system also includes
an indicator on the instrument panel
and a beeper to remind you and your
passengers to f asten your seat belts.
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
Seat Belts
Why Wear Seat Belt s
always wear
your seat belts
8
Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
though your vehicle has airbags.
Be sure you and your
passengers always wear seat
belts and wear them properly.
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Help keep you from being thrown
against the inside of the vehicle
and against other occupants.
Keep you from being thrown out
of the vehicle.
Help keep you in a good position
should the airbags ever deploy. A
good position reduces the risk of
injury from an infl ating airbag and
allows you to get the best
advantage from the airbag.
Of course, seat belts cannot
completely protect you in every
crash.Butinmostcases,seatbelts
can reduce your risk of serious
injury.
Always wear your seat belt, and
make sure you wear it properly. Your
vehicle has a supplemental
restraint system (SRS) with front
airbags to help protect the heads and
chests of the driver and a front seat
passenger during a moderate to
severe frontal collision (see page
for more information on how
your front airbags work). Your
vehicle also has side airbags to
help protect the upper torso of the
driver or a front seat passenger
during a moderate to severe side
impact (see page f or more
information on how your side airbags
work).
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Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
What You Should Do:
Airbags
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
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They are designed to supplement
the seat belts.
The
most important things you need
to know about your airbags are:
The rest of this section gives more
detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.
In addition, your vehicle has side
curtain airbags to help protect the
heads of the driver, front passenger,
and passengers in the outer rear
seating positions during a moderate
to severe side impact (see page f or more inf ormation on how
your side curtain airbags work). Remember however, that no saf ety
system can prevent all injures or
deaths that can occur in a severe
crash, even when seat belts are
properly worn and the airbags deploy.Always wear
your seat belt properly, and sit
upright and as f ar back f rom the
steering wheel as possible while
allowing f ull control of the vehicle. A
f ront passenger should move their
seat as far back from the dashboard
as possible.
To do their job, airbags must
inf late with tremendous f orce. So
while airbags help save lives, they
can cause minor injuries or more
serious or even fatal injuries if
occupants are not properly
restrained or sitting properly.
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Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
Airbags do not replace seat belts.
A irbags of f er no prot ect ion in rearimpact s, or minor f ront al or sidecollisions. What you should do:
Airbags can pose serious hazards.
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The
following pages pro vide
instru ctions on how to properly
protect the driver, adult passengers
and teenage children who are large
enough and mature enough to drive
or ride in the front seat.
See pages for important
guidelines on how to properly
protect infants, small children, and
larger children who ride in your
vehicle. Lo
cking the doors reduces the
ch ance of someone being thro wn out
of the vehicle during a crash, and it
helps prevent passengers from
accidentally opening a door and
falling out.
Lo cking the doors also helps prevent
an outsider from unexp ectedly
opening a door when you come to a
stop.
See page f or how to lock the
doors.
After everyone has entered the
vehicle, be sure the doors and trunk
are closed and locked.
Your vehicle has a door and trunk
open monitor on the multi-
inf ormation display to indicate when
a specif ic door or the trunk is not
tightly closed.
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Protecting A dults and Teens
Close and L ock the Doors
Introduction 1.
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
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See page for how to adjust the
front seats.
The
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration and Transport
Canada recommend that drivers
allow at least 10 inches (25 cm)
between the center of the steering
wheel and the chest. In addition to
adjusting the seat, you can adjust the
steering wheel in and out and up and
down (see page ).
If you cannot get far enough away
from the steering wheel and still
reach the controls, we recommend
that you investigate whether some
type of adaptive equipment may help.
If you sit too close to the steering
wheel or dashboard, you can be
seriously injured by an inf lating f ront
airbag, or by striking the steering
wheel or dashboard. Adjust the driver’s seat as far to the
rear as possible while allowing you to
maintain f ull control of the vehicle.
Have your f ront passenger adjust
their seat as f ar to the rear as
possible. 91
103
Protecting A dults and Teens
Adjust the Front Seats
2.
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Sitting too close to a front
airbag can result in serious
injury or death if the front
airbags inflate.
Always sit as far back from the
front airbags as possible.
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Adjust the driver’s head restraint so
the back of your head rests against
the center of the restraint.
Reclining
a seat-back so that the
shoulder part of the belt no longer
rests against the occupant’s chest
reduces the pro tective capability of
the belt. It also increases the chance
of sliding under the belt in a crash
and being seriously injured. The
farther a seat-back is reclined, the
greater the risk of injury.
See page for how to adjust the
seat-backs.
Adjust the driver’s seat-back to a
comf ortable, upright position,
leaving ample space between your
chest and the airbag cover in the
center of the steering wheel.
Passengers with adjustable seat-
backs should also adjust their seat-
back to a comf ortable, upright
position.
Have passengers adjust their head
restraints properly as well. Taller
persons should adjust their restraint
as high as possible.
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CONT INUED
Protecting A dults and Teens
A djust the Head Restraints
Adjust the Seat-Backs 4.
3.
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
13
Reclining the seat-back too far
can result in serious injury or
death in a crash.
Adjust the seat-back to an
upright position, and sit well
back in the seat.
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