Page 9 of 293

You’ll find many safety
recommendations throughout this
section, and throughout this manual.
Therecommendationsonthispage
are the ones we consider to be the
most important. Excessive speed is a maj
or factor 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
faster than is safe for current
conditions, regardless of the
maximum speed posted.
Having a tire blowout or a
mech anical failure can be extremely
hazardous. To reduce the possibility
of such problems, check your ti re
pressures and condition frequently,
and perform all regularly scheduled
maintenance (see page ).
A seat belt is y
our 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 ).
Children age 12 and under should
ride properly restrained in a back
seat. Infants and small children
should be restrained in a child seat.
Larger children should use a booster
and a lap/shoulder belt until they
canusethebeltproperlywithouta
booster (see pages ). 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.
Al cohol 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.
16
34 193
52
Important Saf ety Precautions
Always Wear Your Seat Belt Control Your Speed
K eep Your Vehicle in Saf e
Condition
Restrain All Children Be Aware of Airbag Hazards
Don’t Drink and Drive
8
µ
Page 10 of 293

Your vehicle is equipped with many
features that work together to
protect you and your passengers
during a crash.
The f ollowing pages explain how you
cantakeanactiveroleinprotecting
yourself and your passengers. 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.
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 fact, some safety
f eatures can contribute to injuries if
they are not used properly.
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
always wear
your seat belts
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
9
(1)
(2)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5) (6)
(7)
(8)
(7) (10)
(11)
(9)
(8)
(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) Seat Belt Tensioners
Page 11 of 293

Your vehicle is equipped with seat
belts in all seating positions.
Seat belts are the single most
effectivesafetydeviceforadultsand
larger children. (Inf ants and smaller
children must be properly restrained
in child seats.)
In addition, most states and all
Canadian provinces require you to
wear seat belts. Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
though your vehicle has airbags.Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including f rontal,
side, and rear impacts and
rollovers. Keep you connected to the vehicle
so you can take advantage of the
vehicle’s built-in saf ety f eatures.
When properly worn, seat belts: Help keep you f rom being thrown
against the inside of the vehicle
and against other occupants.
Keep you f rom 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 f rom an inf lating airbag and
allows you to get the best
advantage f rom 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 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. Seat Belts
Why Wear Seat Belt s
What You Should Do:
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
10
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.
Page 12 of 293
CONTINUED
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 for more
information on how your side airbags
work). In
addition, your vehicle also 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 or
rollover (see page for more
info rmation on how your side curtain
airbags work).
25 28
30
Your Vehicle’s Safety Features
Airbags
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
11
Page 13 of 293

The most important things you need
to know about your airbags are: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. The rest of this section gives more
detailed inf ormation about how you
can maximize your saf ety.
Remember, however, that no saf ety
system can prevent all injuries or
deaths that can occur in a severe
crash, even when seat belts are
properly worn and the airbags deploy.
They are designed to supplement
the seat belts.
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.
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
What you should do:
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.
Airbags can pose serious hazards.
12
Page 14 of 293

CONTINUED
Adjust the driver’s seat as far to the
rear as possible while allowing you to
maintain full control of the vehicle.
Have a front pa ssenger adjust their
seat as far to the rear as possible.
The following pages p
rovide
instru ctions on how to p roperly
protect the driver, adult passengers,
and teenage children who are large
enough and m ature enough to drive
or ride in the front.
See pages for important
guidelines on how to properly
protect infants, small children, and
larger children who ride in your
vehicle.
See page for how to lock the
doors, and page for how the door
monitor indicator works.
Lo
cking the doors also helps prevent
an outsider from unexp ectedly
opening a door when you come to a
stop. 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.Your
vehicle has a door
monitor indicator on the
instrument panel to indicate when a
sp ecific door or the trunk is not
tightly closed.
After
everyone has entered the
vehicle, be sure the doors are closed
and locked.
34
60
77
52
Protecting A dults and Teens
Introduction
A djust the Front Seats
Close and L ock the Doors
1. 2.
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
13
µ
Page 15 of 293

If you sit too close to the steering
wh eel or dashboard, you can be
seriously injured by an inflating front
ai rbag, or by striking the steering
wh eel or dashboard.
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 (see page
). Adjust the driver’s seat-back to a
comfortable, 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 comfo rtable, upright
position.
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. Once
your seat is adjusted correctly,
rock it back and f orth to make sure
the seat is locked in position.
See page f or how to adjust the
f ront seats.
73
85
Protecting A dults and Teens
Adjust the Seat-Backs
3.
14
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.
Page 16 of 293

Adjust the driver’s head restraint so
the back of your head rests against
the center of the restraint.
Have passengers with adjustable
head restraints adjust their restraints
properly as well. Taller persons
should adjust their restraint as high
as possible. Properly
adjusted head restraints
will help protect occupants from
whiplash and other crash injuries.
See page for how to adjust the
head restraints.
See page for how to adjust the
seat-backs. Reclining a seat-back so that the
shoulder part of the belt no longer
rests against the occupant’s chest
reduces the protective 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. 87
85
Protecting A dults and Teens
A djust the Head Restraints
4.
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
15
Improperly positioning head
restraints reduces their
effectiveness and you can be
seriously injured in a crash.
Make sure head restraints are
in place and positioned properly
before driving.
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.