This section gives you important
inf ormation about how to protect
yourself and your passengers. It
shows you how to use seat belts. It
explains how your airbags work. And
it tells you how to properly restrain
inf ants and children in your vehicle..........
Important Safety Precautions . 8
.......
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features . 9
.....................................
Seat Belts .10
.........................................
Airbags .11
.........
Protecting Adults and Teens . 13
.....
1. Close and Lock the Doors . 13
...........
2. Adjust the Front Seats . 13
............
3. Adjust the Seat-Backs . 14
...
4. Adjust the Head Restraints . 15
5. Fasten and Position the Seat .....................................
Belts .16
6. Maintain a Proper Sitting ................................
Position .17
.....
Advice f or Pregnant Women . 18
...
Additional Safety Precautions . 19Additional Inf ormation About Your
.................................
Seat Belts .20
..
Seat Belt System Components . 20
......................
Lap/Shoulder Belt .21
Automatic Seat Belt ...............................
Tensioners .21
...............
Seat Belt Maintenance . 22
Additional Inf ormation About Your .....................................
Airbags .23
......
Airbag System Components . 23
How Your Front Airbags .........................................
Work .25
...
How Your Side Airbags Work . 28
How Your Side Curtain Airbags .........................................
Work .30
..
How the SRS Indicator Works . 30
How the Side Airbag Of f ......................
Indicator Works .31
How the Passenger Airbag Of f ......................
Indicator Works .31
.............................
Airbag Service .32
...
Additional Safety Precautions . 33
Protecting Children General ................................
Guidelines .34
All Children Must Be ...............................
Restrained .34 All Children Should Sit in a
.................................
Back Seat .35
The Passenger’s Front Airbag ................
Poses Serious Risks . 35
If You Must Drive with Several ...................................
Children .37
If a Child Requires Close ..................................
Attention .37
...
Additional Safety Precautions . 38
Protecting Inf ants and .........................
Small Children .39
.......................
Protecting Inf ants .39
.........
Protecting Small Children . 41
.....................
Selecting a Child Seat .42
....................
Installing a Child Seat .43
...............................
With LATCH .44
...................................
With a Belt .46
..............................
With a Tether .48
...........
Protecting Larger Children . 49
..................
Using a Booster Seat . 50
When Can a Larger Child Sit in .........................................
Front .51
...
Additional Safety Precautions . 52
.............
Carbon Monoxide Hazard . 53
...................................
Saf ety Labels .54
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
7
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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
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CONTINUED
For added protection, the front seat
belts are equipped with automatic
seat belt tensioners. When activated,
the tensioners immediately tighten
the belts to help hold the driver and
a front passenger in position.
The
lap and shoulder belt goes over
your shoulder, across your chest,
and across your hips.
To fasten the belt, insert the latch
plate into the buckl e, then tug on the
belt to make sure the buckle is
latched (see page for how to
properly position the belt).
To unlock the belt, press the red
PRESSbuttononthebuckle.Guide
the belt across your body so that it
retracts completely. After exiting the
vehicle, be sure the belt is out of the
way and will not get closed in the
door.
All seat belts have an emerge ncy
locking retractor. In normal driving,
the retractor lets you move freely in
your seat while it keeps some
tension on the belt. During a collision
or sudden stop, the retractor automati
cally locks the belt to help
restrain your body.
To deactivate the lockable retractor,
unlatch the buckle and let the seat
belt fully retract. To refasten the
seat belt, pull it out only as far as
needed. If the shoulder part of the belt is
pulled all the way out, the lockable
retractor will activate. The belt will
retract, but it will not allow the
passenger to move freely.
The seat belts in all positions except
the driver’s have an additional
lockable retractor that must be
activated to secure a child seat (see
page ).
16 46
Additional Inf ormation About Your Seat Belts
A utomatic Seat Belt T ensioners
L ap/Shoulder Belt
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
21
If you are not wearing a
seat belt in crash, you could be
thrown forward and crush the
child against the dashboard or a
seat-back. If you are wearing a
seat belt, the child can be torn
from your arms and be seriously
hurt or killed. During
a crash, the
belt could press deep into the child
and cause serious or fatal injuries.
If they do, they
could be very seriously injured in a
crash.
If
a child wraps a loose
seat belt around their neck, they
can be seriously or f atally injured.
(See pages and f or how to
activate and deactivate the
lockable retractor.) 46 47
Additional Saf ety Precautions
Neverholdaninfantorchildon
your lap. Never put a seat belt over yourself
and a child.
Never let two children use thesame seat belt .
Make sure any unused seat belt
t hat a child can reach is buckled,the lockable retractor is activated,and the belt is f ully retracted andlocked.
Protecting Children General Guidelines
38
µ
Leaving children without
adult supervision is illegal in most
states and Canadian provinces,
and can be very hazardous.
For example, infants and small
childrenleftinavehicleonahot
day can die from heatstroke. A
child left alone with the key in the
ignition switch can accide ntally set
the vehicle in motion, possibly
injuring themselves or others. Children
who play in vehicles can
accidentally get trapped inside.
Teach your children not to play in
or around vehicles. Know how to
operate the emergency trunk
opener and decide if your children
should be shown how to use this
feature(seepage ).
Even very young
children learn how to unlock
vehicle doors, turn on the ignition
switch, and open the trunk, which
can lead to accide ntal injury or
death.
This
can prevent children
from accidentally falling out (see
page ).
An inf ant must be properly
restrained in a rear-f acing, reclining
child seat until the child reaches the
seat maker’s weight or height limit
f or the seat, and the child is at least
one year old.
Only a rear-f acing child seat provides
proper support f or a baby’s head,
neck, and back.
78
83
CONT INUED
Do not leave children alone in avehicle. L ock all doors and t he t runk when
your vehicle is not in use.
K eep vehicle keys and remot etransmitters out of the reach ofchildren.
Use childproof door locks t o
prevent children f rom opening t hedoors.
Child Seat T ype
Protecting Inf ants
Protecting Children General Guidelines, Protecting Inf ants and Small Children
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
39
µ
Two types of seats may be used: a
seat designed exclusively f or inf ants,
or a convertible seat used in the rear-
f acing, reclining mode.If placed
f acing f orward, an inf ant could be
very seriously injured during a
f rontal collision. A rear-f acing child seat can be placed
in any seating position in the back
seat, but not in the f ront.
If the passenger’s front airbag
inflates, it can hit the back of the
child seat with enough f orce to kill or
seriously injure an inf ant.
When properly installed, a rear-
f acing child seat may prevent the
driver or a f ront passenger f rom
moving their seat as far back as
recommended, or f rom locking their
seat-back in the desired position.
It could also interf ere with proper
operation of the passenger’s
advanced front airbag system.In any of these situations, we
strongly recommend that you install
the child seat directly behind the
f ront passenger’s seat, move the seat
as far forward as needed, and leave it
unoccupied. Or, you may wish to get
a smaller rear-f acing child seat.
Do not put a rear-f acing child seat in
a f orward-f acing position. Infant Child Seat Placement
Never put a
rear-f acing child seat in t he f ront seat .
Protecting Inf ants and Small Children
40
Placing a rear-facing child seat
in the front seat can result in
serious injury or death during a
collision.
Always place a rear-facing child
seat in the back seat, not the
front.
When not using the LATCH system,
all child seats must be secured to the
vehicle with the lap part of a lap/
shoulder belt.With the child seat in the desired
seating position, route the belt
through the child seat according
to the seat maker’s instructions,
then insert the latch plate into the
buckle.To activate the lockable retractor,
slowly pull the shoulder part of the
belt all the way out until it stops,
then let the belt f eed back into the
retractor.
Af ter the belt has retracted, tug on
it. If the belt is locked, you will not
be able to pull it out. If you can pull
thebeltout,itisnotlocked,and
you will need to repeat these steps.
In addition, the lap/shoulder belts in
all seating positions except the
driver’s have a lockable retractor
that must be activated to secure a
child seat.
1.2.
3.
Installing a Child Seat with a L ap/
Shoulder Belt
Installing a Child Seat
46
Af ter conf irming that the belt is
locked, grab the shoulder part of
the belt near the buckle, and pull
up to remove any slack from the
lap part of the belt. Remember, if
the lap part of the belt is not tight,
the child seat will not be secure.To deactivate the lockable retractor
and remove a child seat, unlatch the
buckle, unroute the seat belt, and let
the belt fully retract.
Push and pull the child seat
f orward and f rom side-to-side to
verify that it is secure enough to
stay upright during normal driving
maneuvers. If the child seat is not
secure, unlatch the belt, allow it to
retract f ully, then repeat these
steps.
To remove slack, it may help to
putweightonthechildseat,or
push on the back of the seat while
pulling up on the belt.
4.
5.
Installing a Child Seat
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
47