___ A_ ir_ b_ a-g _ s_y _s_ t_ e_ m _________________________________________________ _
The airbag on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially
dangerous place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the safest place for a child in a forward-facing child safety seat . It can be a very
dangerous place for an infant or a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle has been certified to comply with the Requirements of United States Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time your vehicle
was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front airbag on the passenger side to be
turned off ("suppressed") if a child up to about one year of age restrained in one of the rear -facing or forward -facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certified has
been installed on the front passenger seat. For a listing of the child
restraints that were used to certify compliance with the US Safety
Standard =>
page 170.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instrument panel tells you
when the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the electronic control unit.
Each time you turn on the ignition, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a few seconds and:
• will stay on if the front passenger seat is not occupied,
• will stay on if there is a small child or child restraint on the front
passenger seat,
• will go off if the front passenger seat is occupied by an adult as
registered by the weight -sensing mat=>
page 157, "Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System".
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on when the control unit
detects a total weight on the front passenger seat that requires the
front airbag to be turned off.
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is more than that of
a typical 1 year-old child but less than the weight of a small adult,
the front airbag on the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come onl. If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been turned off by the electronic control unit and can
deploy if the control unit senses an impact that meets the condi
tions stored in its memory.
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
• a small child that is heavier than a typical 1 year-old child is on
the front passenger seat (regardless of whether the child is in one
of the child safety seats listed =>
page 170), or
• a child who has outgrown child restraints is on the front
passenger seat .
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on in the instrument cluster and stays on .
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not illuminate and stay litl even
if a small adult or teenager, or a passenger who is not sitting upright
with their back against a non-reclined backrest with their feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the seat is on the front passenger seat
=> page 130, "Proper seating position for the driver".
If the front passenger airbag deploys , the Federal Standard requires
the airbag to meet the "low risk" deployment criteria to reduce the
risk of injury through interaction with the airbag. "Low risk" deploy
ment occurs in those crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit=>
page 157, "PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF light".
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant carrier installed on
the front seat may be struck and knocked out of position by the rapidly inflating passenger's airbag in a frontal collision. The airbag
could greatly reduce the effectiveness of the child restraint and
even seriously injure the child during inflation.
For this reason, and because the back seat is the safest place for
children -when properly restrained according to their age and size
- we strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
=>
page 168, "Child Safety" . .,
Airbag syst em -----------------=~-
& WARN ING (co ntinued)
is he avier tha n the t ypi ca l o ne -yea r old child i s on the front
p asse nger seat and the othe r con dition s for airba g deploym ent
a re met .
• Accident stat istic s have shown that children are gen era lly safer
i n th e rea r seat ar ea th an in the front se ating posit ion .
• For its ow n sa fet y, a c hild should always ride pr operly
re str ai ned f or it s a ge a nd si ze . •
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced Airbag System in
compliance with United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Stan
dard 208 as applicab le at the time your vehicle was manufactured.
Th e front Advanced Airbag System supplements the safety belts to
provide additional protection for the driver's and front passenger 's
heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags inflate only
in frontal impacts when the vehicle deceleration is high enough .
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety be lts. Rather, it is part of the overa ll
occupant restraint system in your vehicle. A lways remember that
the airbag syste m can only help to protect you, if you a re sitting
upright, wearing your safety be lt and wearing it proper ly. This is why
you and your passengers must a lways be proper ly restrained, not
just because the law requires you to be .
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle has been certified to meet the " low risk" requirements for 3 and 6 year-old children on the
passenger side and very small adults on the driver side . The low risk
deployment cr iteria are intended to help reduce the risk of injury
through interaction with the front airbag that can occur, for
examp le, by being too c lose to the steering wheel and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates .
Controls and equip
ment Safety first Vehicle operation
I
n addition, the system has been certified to comply with the
"suppression" requirements of the Safe ty Standard, to turn off the
front airbag for infants 12 months old and younger who are restrained on the front passenger seat in child restraints that are
listed in the Standard=>
page 170, "Child restraints and Advanced
Airbags" .
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the passenger side to be
turned off if:
• a child up to about one year of age is restrained on the front
passenger seat in one of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant
res traints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certified. For
a listing of the child rest raints that were used to certify your
vehic le's compliance with the US Safety Standard=>
page 170,
• weight less than a threshold leve l stored in the cont rol unit is
detected on the front passenger seat.
When a person is detected on the front passenger seat, weighing more than the total weight of a child that is about 1 year old
restrained in one of the rear-facing or forward -facing infant
restraints (lis ted in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certified),
the front airbag on the passenger side may or may not deploy .
The
PA SS EN GER AIR BA G OFF light comes on when the e lectronic
control unit detects a total weight on the front passenger seat that
requires the front airbag to be turned off. If the
PAS SEN GER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has no t been turned off by the con trol un it and can deploy if the
control unit senses an impact that meets the conditions stored in its
memory .
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is more than that of
a typical 1 year -o ld, but less than the weight of a small adult, the
front a irbag on the passenger side may dep loy (the
PA SS ENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not come onl.
For e xample , the airb ag may deplo y if:
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