2007 HONDA RIDGELINE Owners Manual

µ
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 .6
.......
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features .7
.......................................
Seat Belts .8
...........................................
Airbags .9
.........
Protecting Adults and Teens .11
.....
1. Close and Lock the Doors .11
...........
2. Adjust the Front Seats .11
............
3. Adjust the Seat-Backs .12
...
4. Adjust the Head Restraints .13
5. Fasten and Position the
.............................
Seat Belts .14
6. Maintain a Proper Sitting ................................
Position .15
.....
Advice f or Pregnant Women .16
...
Additional Safety Precautions .17 Additional Inf ormation About Your
.................................
Seat Belts .18
..
Seat Belt System Components .18
......................
Lap/Shoulder Belt .19
Automatic Seat Belt
...............................
Tensioners .19
...............
Seat Belt Maintenance .20
Additional Inf ormation About ...........................
Your Airbags .21
......
Airbag System Components .21
How Your Front Airbags
.........................................
Work .23
...
How Your Side Airbags Work .26
How your Side Curtain Airbags
.........................................
Work .28
..
How the SRS Indicator Works .28
How the Side Airbag Of f
......................
Indicator Works .29
How the Passenger Airbag Of f ......................
Indicator Works .29
.............................
Airbag Service .30
...
Additional Safety Precautions .31
Protecting Children General ................................
Guidelines .32
All Children Must Be ...............................
Restrained .32 All Children Should Sit in a
.................................
Back Seat .33
The Passenger’s Front Airbag .........
Can Pose Serious Risks .33
If You Must Drive with Several ...................................
Children .35
If a Child Requires Close ..................................
Attention .35
...
Additional Safety Precautions .36
Protecting Inf ants and Small ...................................
Children .37
.......................
Protecting Inf ants .37
.........
Protecting Small Children .38
.....................
Selecting a Child Seat .39
....................
Installing a Child Seat .40
...............................
With LATCH .41
.........
With a Lap/Shoulder Belt .44
..............................
With a Tether .46
...........
Protecting Larger Children .49
...............
Checking Seat Belt Fit .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
5

µ
You’ll
find many safety
recommendations throughout this
section, and throughout this manual.
Therecommendationsonthispage
are the ones we consider to be the
most important. 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 ).
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.
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.
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 passenger
always wear your seat belts, and
wear them properly (see page ).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.
Inf ants, young children, and short
adults are at the greatest risk. Be
sure to f ollow all instructions and
warnings in this manual.
14 32 52
235
Always Wear Your Seat Belt
Restrain All Children
Be Aware of Airbag Hazards
Don’t Drink and DriveK eep Your Vehicle in Saf e
Condition Control Your Speed
Important Saf ety Precautions
6

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.
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.
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
always wear
your seat belts
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
7
(7) (9) (1)
(2)
(6) (10)
(8)
(5)
(2) (11)
(4)
(3)
(10)
(6) Seat Belts
(7) Front Airbags
(8) Front Seat Belt Tensioners
(9) Door Locks
(10) Side Airbags
(11) Side Curtain Airbags (1) Safety Cage
(2) Crush Zones
(3) Seats and Seat-Backs
(4) Head Restraints
(5) Collapsible Steering Column

Your vehicle is equipped with seat
belts in all seating positions.Keep you f rom being thrown out
of the vehicle. Help keep you f rom being thrown
against the inside of the vehicle
and against other occupants.
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.
The pickup bed is not equipped with
seats or seat belts. Do not let anyone
ride in the pickup bed as they can
easily be thrown out and be killed or
seriously injured.
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.
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.
Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including f rontal,
side and rear impacts, and
rollovers.
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
Seat BeltsWhy Wear Seat Belt s
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.
Allowing passengers to ride in
the pickup bed or on the tailgate
can result in death or serious
injury in a crash.
Make sure all passengers ride
in a seat and wear a seat belt
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 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 inf ormation on how
your side airbags work).
Of course, seat belts cannot
completely protect you in every
crash.Butinmostcases,seatbelts
can reduce your risk of serious
injury.
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.
Always wear
your seat belt, and make sure you
wear it properly.
23 26
CONT INUED
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
Airbags
What you should do:
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
9

The rest of this section gives more
detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.
The
most important things you need
to know about your airbags are:
They are designed to supplement
the seat belts.
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 or rollover (see
page f or more inf ormation on how
your side curtain airbags work). 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.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.
28
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.
10

µAdjust the driver’s seat as far to the
rear as possible while allowing you to
maintain full control of the vehicl e.
Have a front passenger adjust their
seat as far to the rear as possible.
See
pages for important
guidelines on how to properly
protect infants, small children, and
larger children who ride in your
vehicle. 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.
After everyone has entered the
vehicle, be sure the doors are closed
and locked. Before driving, be sure
the tailgate is also closed.
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 and
tailgate open monitor on
the instrument panel to indicate
when a specific door or the tailgate is
not tightly closed.
Your vehicle also has an
In-Bed Trunk open
indicator to show when the In-Bed
Trunk lid is not tightly closed (see
page ).
Lo cking the doors also helps prevent
an outsider from unexp ectedly
opening a door when you come to a
stop.
See page for how to lock the
doors, and page for how the door
and tailgate open monitor works.
32 52
96
83 64
CONT INUED
Protecting A dults and Teens
Introduction A djust the Front Seats
Close and L ock the Doors
1. 2.
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
11

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.
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 it
is locked into position. See page
f or how to adjust the f ront seats.
98
On RT, RTX, and Canadian LX models
Protecting A dults and Teens
Adjust the Seat-Backs
3.
12
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.