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When using the remote handle levers:
CAUTION
Be careful of the following when using
the remote handle levers:
lOn a downward slope, the seatback
could flip forward faster than on a
flat area.
lOn an upward slope, the seatback
may not fold down. When the
seatbacks cannot be folded down
with levers, pull the rear seatback
forward from inside the vehicle.
1. Unfasten the lap portion of the center-
rear seat belt (page 2-21).
CAUTION
Always unfasten the lap portion of the
belt before folding left-rear seatback.
Leaving the lap portion of the belt
fastened could cause damage to the seat
belt, buckle and seatback.2. After checking that the rear seats are
clear, open the liftgate compartment
and pull the remote handle levers on
the left and right side of the liftgate
compartment.
When using the rear seatback knobs:
CAUTION
When operating the rear seatback knob,
make sure you support the seatback
with your hand. If the seatback is not
supported with your hand, it will flip
forward suddenly and could cause
injury to the finger that pushes the rear
seatback knob down.
1. Unfasten the lap portion of the center-
rear seat belt (page 2-21).
CAUTION
Always unfasten the lap portion of the
belt before folding the rear-left
seatback. Leaving the lap portion of the
belt fastened could cause damage to the
seat belt, buckle and seatback.
2. Support the seatback with your hand.
Essential Safety Equipment
Seats
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3. Push the rear seatback knob down.
To return the seatbacks to the upright
position
1. Lift the seatbacks upright.
2. Pull on the top of the seatbacks from
inside the vehicle to make sure they are
locked.
3. Fasten the center-rear lap/shoulder belt
and check that all seat belts are routed
properly for passenger use (page 2-21).
WARNING
Always make sure the seat belts are
fully pulled out from under the
seatbacks:
A seat belt caught under a seatback
after the seatback is returned to its
upright position is dangerous. In a
collision or sudden stop, the seat belt
cannot provide adequate protection.
WARNING
When returning the seatback to the
upright position, make sure there is no
red indication:
A rear seatback not fully returned and
locked in the upright position is
dangerous. Sudden stops or
maneuvering could cause a seatback
to flip forward suddenly resulting in
injury. If the red indicator is visible on
the back of the rear seatback knob, the
seatback is not locked in the upright
position.
Locked position
Unlocked position
Red indicator
qHead Restraint
WARNING
Always drive with the head restraints
installed when seats are being used
and make sure they are properly
adjusted:
Driving with the head restraints
adjusted too low or removed is
dangerous. With no support behind
your head, your neck could be
seriously injured in a collision.
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Seats
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Seat Belt Precautions
Seat belts help to decrease the possibility of severe injury during accidents and sudden
stops. Mazda recommends that the driver and all passengers always wear seat belts.
All of the seat belt retractors are designed to keep the lap/shoulder belts out of the way
when not in use.
The driver's seat belt has no provisions for child-restraint systems and has only an
emergency locking mode. The driver may wear it comfortably, and it will lock during a
collision.
However, the front passenger's seat and all rear lap/shoulder belt retractors operate in two
modes: emergency locking mode, and for child-restraint systems, automatic locking mode.
While we recommend you put all children in the rear seats, if you must use the front
passenger seat for a child, slide the front passenger seat as far back as possible and make
sure any child-restraint system is secured properly.
WARNING
Always wear your seat belt and make sure all occupants are properly restrained:
Not wearing a seat belt is extremely dangerous. During a collision, occupants not
wearing seat belts could hit someone or things inside the vehicle or even be thrown out
of the vehicle. They could be seriously injured or even killed. In the same collision,
occupants wearing seat belts would be much safer.
Do not operate a vehicle with a damaged seat belt:
Using a damaged seat belt is dangerous. An accident could damage the belt webbing
of the seat belt in use. A damaged seat belt cannot provide adequate protection in a
collision. Front air bags and pretensioners work together, regardless of whether or not
a front seat was occupied during a collision, or whether or not any air bag and seat
belt pretensioner deployed all front seat belts and air bags must be inspected and
replaced if necessary. Have an Authorized Mazda Dealer inspect all seat belt systems
in use during an accident before they are used again.
Do not wear twisted seat belts:
Twisted seat belts are dangerous. In a collision, the full width of the belt is not
available to absorb the impact. This puts more force on the bones beneath the belt,
which could cause serious injury or death.
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Seat Belt Systems
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WARNING
Never use one seat belt on more than one person at a time:
Using one seat belt for more than one person at a time is dangerous. A seat belt used
in this way cannot spread the impact forces properly and the two passengers could be
crushed together and seriously injured or even killed. Never use one belt for more
than one person at a time and always operate the vehicle with each occupant properly
restrained.
In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely to die than a person
wearing a seat belt.
CAUTION
Belt retraction may become difficult if the belts and rings are soiled, so try to keep them
clean. For more details about cleaning the seat belts, refer to“Cleaning the Lap/Shoulder
Belt Webbing”(page 8-51).
qPregnant Women and Persons with Serious Medical Conditions
Pregnant women should always wear seat belts. Ask your doctor for specific
recommendations.
The lap belt should be worn SNUGLY AND AS LOW AS POSSIBLE OVER THE HIPS.
The shoulder belt should be worn across your shoulder properly, but never across the
stomach area.
Persons with serious medical conditions also should wear seat belts. Check with your
doctor for any special instructions regarding specific medical conditions.
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Seat Belt Systems
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qEmergency Locking Mode
In the emergency locking mode, the belt remains comfortable on the occupant and the
retractor will lock in position during a collision. When the seat belt is fastened, it will
always be in the emergency locking mode until it is switched to automatic locking mode by
pulling it all the way out to its full length. If the belt feels tight and hinders comfortable
movement while the vehicle is stopped or in motion, it may be in the automatic locking
mode because the belt has been pulled too far out. To return to the belt to the more
comfortable emergency locking mode, wait until the vehicle has stopped in a safe, level
area, retract the belt fully to convert it back to emergency locking mode and then extend it
around you again.
qAutomatic Locking Mode
Always use the automatic locking mode to keep the child-restraint system from shifting to
an unsafe position in the event of an accident. To enable seat belt automatic locking mode,
pull it all the way out and connect it as instructed on the child-restraint system. It will
retract down to the child-restraint system and stay locked on it. See the section on child
restraint (page 2-27).
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Seat Belt Systems
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Seat Belt (Except Center-
Rear Position)
NOTE
When using the center-rear seat belt,
refer to“Center-Rear Position Seat
Belt”(page 2-21).
qFastening the Seat Belt
1. Grasp the tongue.
2. Slowly pull out the lap/shoulder belt.
TongueBelt
3. Insert the tongue into the buckle until
you hear a click.
BuckleTongue
WARNING
Positioning the Shoulder Portion of
the Seat Belt:
Improper positioning of the shoulder
portion of the seat belt is dangerous.
Always make sure the shoulder
portion of the seat belt is positioned
across your shoulder and near your
neck, but never under your arm, on
your neck, or on your upper arm.
4. Position the lap belt as low as possible,
not on the abdominal area, then adjust
the shoulder belt so that it fits snugly
against your body.
Keep low on
hip bone
Too high Take up slack
WARNING
Positioning the Lap Portion of the
Seat Belt:
The lap portion of the seat belt worn
too high is dangerous. In a collision,
this would concentrate the impact
force directly on the abdominal area,
causing serious injury. Wear the lap
portion of the belt snugly and as low
as possible.
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Seat Belt Systems
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qUnfastening the Seat Belt
Depress the button on the buckle. If the
belt does not fully retract, pull it out and
check for kinks or twists. Then make sure
it remains untwisted as it retracts.
Button
NOTE
If a belt does not fully retract, inspect it
for kinks and twists. If it is still not
retracting properly, have it inspected at
an Authorized Mazda Dealer.
qShoulder Belt Adjuster
Adjust the height of the shoulder belt if
the seat belt touches your neck, or if it
crosses your arm instead of your shoulder.
To raise the shoulder belt adjuster, push
the adjuster up. To lower the shoulder belt
adjuster, pull the adjuster and slide it
down. Make sure the adjuster is locked.
WARNING
Positioning the Shoulder Portion of
the Seat Belt:
Improper positioning of the shoulder
portion of the seat belt is dangerous.
Always make sure the shoulder
portion of the seat belt is positioned
across your shoulder and near your
neck, but never under your arm, on
your neck, or on your upper arm.
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Seat Belt Systems
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Front Seat Belt Pretensioner
and Load Limiting Systems
For optimum protection, the driver and
front passenger seat belts are equipped
with pretensioner and load limiting
systems.
In moderate or severe frontal or near-
frontal collision or roll-over accidents, the
front air bag and pretensioner systems
deploy simultaneously. The front seat belt
retractors remove slack quickly as the air
bags are expanding. The seat belt
pretensioner system cannot provide
adequate protection in an accident if the
seat belt is not fastened properly. The load
limiting system releases belt webbing in a
controlled manner to reduce belt force on
the occupant's chest.
In addition, the pretensioner system for
the front passenger is designed to only
deploy in accordance with the total seated
weight on the front passenger seat. For
details, refer to the driver and front
passenger occupant classification system
(page 2-58).
WARNING
Wear seat belts only as recommended
in this owner's manual:
Incorrect positioning of the driver and
front passenger seat belts is
dangerous. Without proper
positioning, the pretensioner and load
limiting systems cannot provide
adequate protection in an accident
and this could result in serious injury.
For more details about wearing seat
belts, refer to“Fastening the seat
belts”(page 2-17).
WARNING
Do not use seat belts with expended
pretensioners:
One or both front air bags may deploy,
and the corresponding pretensioner(s)
will also deploy at the same time. Use
of front seat belts with the
pretensioner system expended is
dangerous. Like the air bags, the seat
belt pretensioners will only function
once. After they are expended, they
will not function again and must be
replaced immediately. If the seat belt
pretensioners are not replaced, the
risk of injury in a collision will
increase. Always have an Authorized
Mazda Dealer inspect the seat belt
pretensioners and air bags after any
collision. Expended seat belt
pretensioners and air bags must be
replaced after any collision which
caused them to deploy. Additionally,
the load limiter will only limit loads on
the chest once in a collision and this is
another reason to have the front seat
belts inspected.
Do not modify the components or
wiring, or use electronic testing
devices on the pretensioner system:
Modifying the components or wiring
of the pretensioner system, including
the use of electronic testing devices is
dangerous. You could accidentally
activate it or make it inoperable which
would prevent it from activating in an
accident. The occupants or repairers
could be seriously injured.
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
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Form No.8V28-EA-06B