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or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the vehicle
does. You get more time to stop. You stop
over more distance, and your strongest bones
take the forces. That is why safety belts
make such good sense.
Questions and Answers About
Safety Belts
Q:Will I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if I am wearing a safety belt?
A:Youcouldbe — whether you are wearing a
safety belt or not. But you can unbuckle a
safety belt, even if you are upside down. And
your chance of being conscious during and
after an accident, so youcanunbuckle and get
out, ismuchgreater if you are belted.
Q:If my vehicle has airbags, why should I
have to wear safety belts?
A:Airbags are supplemental systems only; so
they workwithsafety belts — not instead of
them. Every airbag system ever offered
for sale has required the use of safety belts.
Even if you are in a vehicle that has airbags,
you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That is true not only in frontal
collisions, but especially in side and other
collisions.
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Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy
Safety belts work for everyone, including pregnant
women. Like all occupants, they are more likely
to be seriously injured if they do not wear
safety belts.
A pregnant woman should wear a lap-shoulder
belt, and the lap portion should be worn as low as
possible, below the rounding, throughout the
pregnancy.The best way to protect the fetus is to protect the
mother. When a safety belt is worn properly, it
is more likely that the fetus will not be hurt
in a crash. For pregnant women, as for anyone,
the key to making safety belts effective is wearing
them properly.
Right Front Passenger Position
To learn how to wear the right front passenger’s
safety belt properly, seeDriver Position on
page 43.
The right front passenger’s safety belt works the
same way as the driver’s safety belt — except
for one thing. If you ever pull the shoulder portion
of the belt out all the way, you will engage the
child restraint locking feature which may turn off
the passenger’s frontal airbag. If this happens, just
let the belt go back all the way and start again.
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{CAUTION:
Children who are up against, or very close
to, any airbag when it in ates can be
seriously injured or killed. Airbags plus
lap-shoulder belts offer protection for
adults and older children, 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.
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CAUTION: (Continued)
This is because the back of the
rear-facing child restraint would be
very close to the in ating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing
system is designed to turn off the
passenger’s frontal airbag if the system
detects a rear-facing child restraint,
no system is fail-safe, and no one can
guarantee that an airbag will not deploy
under some unusual circumstance, even
though it is turned off. We recommend
that rear-facing child restraints be
secured in the rear seat, even if the
airbag is off.
If you need to secure a forward-facing
child restraint in the right front seat,
alwaysmove the front passenger seat
as far back as it will go. It is better to
secure the child restraint in a rear seat.
{CAUTION:
A child in a child restraint in the center
front seat can be badly injured or killed by
the right front passenger’s airbag if it
in ates. Never secure a child restraint in
the center front seat. It is always better to
secure a child restraint in the rear seat.
Wherever you install a child restraint, be sure to
secure the child restraint properly.
Keep in mind that an unsecured child restraint can
move around in a collision or sudden stop and
injure people in the vehicle. Be sure to properly
secure any child restraint in your vehicle — even
when no child is in it.
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Securing a Child Restraint in the
Center Front Seat Position
{CAUTION:
A child in a child restraint in the center
front seat can be badly injured or killed by
the right front passenger’s airbag if it
in ates. Never secure a child restraint in
the center front seat. It is always better to
secure a child restraint in the rear seat.
Do not use child restraints in this position. The
restraints will not work properly.
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat Position
Your vehicle has a right front passenger airbag. A
rear seat is a safer place to secure a
forward-facing child restraint. SeeWhere to Put
the Restraint on page 72.
In addition, your vehicle has a passenger sensing
system. The passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the right front passenger’s
frontal airbag when an infant in a rear-facing infant
seat or a small child in a forward-facing child
restraint or booster seat is detected. See
Passenger Sensing System on page 101and
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator on page 246for
more information on this including important
safety information.
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A label on your sun visor says, “Never put a
rear-facing child seat in the front.” This is because
the risk to the rear-facing child is so great, if the
airbag deploys.
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can
be seriously injured or killed if the right
front passenger’s airbag in ates. This is
because the back of the rear-facing child
restraint would be very close to the
in ating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing
system is designed to turn off the right
front passenger’s frontal airbag if the
system detects a rear-facing child restraint,
no system is fail-safe, and no one can
guarantee that an airbag will not deploy
under some unusual circumstance, even
though it is turned off.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
We recommend that rear-facing child
restraints be secured in the rear seat,
even if the airbag is off.
If you need to secure a forward-facing
child restraint in the right front seat,
always move the front passenger seat as
far back as it will go. It is better to secure
the child restraint in a rear seat.
If you need to secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front seat position, move the
seat as far back as it will go before securing
the forward-facing child restraint. SeeManual
Seats on page 9orPower Seats on page 10.
If your child restraint has the LATCH system, see
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH) on page 74.
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There is no top tether anchor at the right front
seating position. Do not secure a child seat in this
position if a national or local law requires that
the top tether be anchored or if the instructions
that come with the child restraint say that the top
tether must be anchored. SeeLower Anchors
and Tethers for Children (LATCH) on page 74if
the child restraint has a top tether.
You will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure
the child restraint in this position. Be sure to follow
the instructions that came with the child restraint.
Secure the child in the child restraint when and as
the instructions say.
1. Your vehicle has a right front passenger’s
frontal airbag. SeePassenger Sensing
System on page 101. We recommend that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in a rear
seat, even if the airbag is off. If your child
restraint is forward-facing, move the seat as
far back as it will go before securing the
child restraint in this seat. SeeManual Seats
on page 9orPower Seats on page 10.When the passenger sensing system has
turned off the right front passenger’s frontal
airbag, the off indicator in the passenger
airbag status indicator should light and stay lit
when you turn the ignition to RUN or
START. SeePassenger Airbag Status
Indicator on page 246.
2. Put the child restraint on the seat.
3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and
shoulder portions of the vehicle’s safety belt
through or around the restraint. The child
restraint instructions will show you how.
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6. To tighten the belt, push down on the child
restraint, pull the shoulder portion of the belt
to tighten the lap portion of the belt and
feed the shoulder belt back into the retractor.
If you are using a forward-facing child
restraint, you may nd it helpful to use your
knee to push down on the child restraint
as you tighten the belt. You should not be able
to pull more of the belt from the retractor
once the lock has been set.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different
directions to be sure it is secure.8. If the airbag is off, the off indicator 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.
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