2007 HONDA ELEMENT Owners Manual

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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 .12
.....
1. Close and Lock the Doors .12
...........
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 .15
6. Maintain a Proper Sitting ................................
Position .17
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Advice f or Pregnant Women .18
...
Additional Safety Precautions .18
Additional Inf ormation About Your .................................
Seat Belts .20
..
Seat Belt System Components .20 ......................
Lap/Shoulder Belt .21
Automatic Seat Belt
...............................
Tensioners .22
...............
Seat Belt Maintenance .22
Additional Inf ormation About Your .....................................
Airbags .24
......
Airbag System Components .24
How Your Front Airbags
.........................................
Work .27
...
How Your Side Airbags Work .31
How Your Side Curtain Airbags
.........................................
Work .32
How the SRS Indicator .......................................
Works .33
How the Side Airbag Of f ......................
Indicator Works .34
How the Passenger Airbag Of f ......................
Indicator Works .34
.............................
Airbag Service .35
...
Additional Safety Precautions .36
Protecting Children General ................................
Guidelines .37
All Children Must Be ...............................
Restrained .37
All Children Should Sit in a .................................
Back Seat .38 The Passenger’s Front Airbag
.........
Can Pose Serious Risks .38
If You Must Drive with Several ...................................
Children .40
If a Child Requires Close ..................................
Attention .40
...
Additional Safety Precautions .41
Protecting Inf ants and .........................
Small Children .42
.......................
Protecting Inf ants .42
.........
Protecting Small Children .43
.....................
Selecting a Child Seat .44
....................
Installing a Child Seat .45
...............................
With LATCH .46
.........
With a Lap/Shoulder Belt .48
..............................
With a Tether .50
...........
Protecting Larger Children .51
...............
Checking Seat Belt Fit .51
..................
Using a Booster Seat .52
When Can a Larger Child Sit in
.........................................
Front .52
...
Additional Safety Precautions .53
.............
Carbon Monoxide Hazard .54
...................................
Saf ety Labels .55
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
7

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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 ).
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 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.
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.
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 ).
15 37 53
179
Important Saf ety Precautions
Always Wear Your Seat Belt K eep Your Vehicle in Saf e
Condition Control Your Speed
Don’t Drink and Drive Be Aware of Airbag Hazards Restrain All Children
8

Your vehicle is equipped with many
features that work together to
protect you and your passengers
during 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.
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 seat
belts in a crash.
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
always wear
your seat belts
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
9
(2)
(6)
(4)
(3)
(1)
(7)
(5)
(2)
(8)
(8)(9)
(11)
(10)
(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) Front Seat Belt Tensioners
(11) Door Locks

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.)
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. 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.
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
Seat Belts
Why Wear Seat Belt s
What You Should Do:
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.

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). 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
for more information on how
your side curtain airbags work).
Your
vehicle also has side airbags to
help protect the upper torso of the
driver or a f ront seat passenger
during a moderate to severe side
impact (see page 31 for more
information on how your side airbags
work).
27 32
CONT INUED
Airbags
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
11

µAfter
everyone has entered the
vehicle, be sure the doors are closed
and locked.
They are designed to supplement
the seat belts.
To do
their job, airbags must inflate with
trem endous force. 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.
The
most important things you need
to know about your airbags are:
Always wear
your seat belt properly, and sit
upright and as far back from the
steering wheel as possible while
allowing full control of the vehicl e. A
front passenger should move their
seat as far back from the dashboard
as possible. Locking
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.
The
rest of this section gives more
detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.
Remember however, that no safety
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.
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.
See pages for important
guidelines on how to properly
protect infants, small children, and
larger children who ride in your
vehicle. Your
vehicle has a door and
tailgate monitor indicator
on the instrument panel to indicate
when a specific door or the tailgate
or the hatch is not tightly closed.
See page for how to lock the
doors, and page for how the door
and tailgate monitor indicator works.
5337
63
80
Close and L ock the Doors
Protecting A dults and T eens
Introduction 1.
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.A irbags can pose hazards.
What you should do:
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features, Protecting A dults and Teens
12

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 up and down (see
page ).
If you cannot get f ar enough away
f rom 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 it
is locked in position.
Adjust the driver’s seat as far to the
rear as possible while allowing you to
maintain f ull control of the vehicle.
Have a f ront passenger adjust their
seat as far to the rear as possible.
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. 83
74
Protecting A dults and Teens
Adjust the Front Seats
2.
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
13
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.