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If a child from 1 to 12 years old must ride in the vehicle,
move the seat as far back as possible, shut off the
passenger airbag, and use the proper child restraint. See
the section on ªChild Restraint.º
You should read the instructions provided with your
child restraint or belt-positioning booster seat to make
sure that you are using it properly.
2. All occupants should wear their lap and shoulder belts
properly.
3. The driver and passenger seats should be moved back
as far as practical to allow the front airbags room to
inflate.
4. Do not lean against the door, as the side airbags will
inflate forcefully into the space between you and the
door. (See the section on ªSide Airbagsº)WARNING!
After installing a child safety seat or booster seat on the
passenger seat, do not adjust the back rest forward. This
could cause a higher load being perceived by the OCS
system which in turn could lead to the passenger airbag
being turned on. Failure to follow this warning could
result in serious or fatal injury. It is always recom-
mended to turn off the passenger front air bags using
the passenger front airbags on/off switch located at the
right end of the instrument panel when the passenger is:
²an infant (less than 1 year old),
²a child, age 1 to 12,
²an adult with a medical condition which makes
passenger airbags inflation (deployment) a greater
risk for the passenger than the risk of hitting the
dashboard (instrument panel) or windshield in a
crash.
The on/off switch is accessible by opening the passen-
ger door.
36 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE
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How the Occupant Classification System (OCS)
System Works
The Occupant Classification System (OCS) will classify
an occupant in the front passenger seat into a size
category based on sensor readings from within the seat
cushion. Occupants should try to remain in a normally
seated position. If the occupant's weight is transferred to
another object in the vehicle (i.e. feet on the dashboard),
the OCS may not be able to properly approximate
occupant size. Furthermore, the occupant size may ap-
pear to increase or decrease due to objects hanging on the
seat, other passengers pushing on the seat, or objects
lodged underneath the seat. If there is a rapid change in
temperature or humidity, the OCS may not be able to
properly approximate occupant size. If your seat includ-
ing your trim cover and cushion needs to be serviced in
any way, take the vehicle to your authorized dealer. Only
manufacturer approved seat accessories may be used. If
there is a fault present in the system, the AIRBAGwarning light will light indicating that you should take
the vehicle to an authorized dealer. In the presence of an
occupant in the passenger seat, if both the Passenger
Airbag Disable (PAD) indicator light (located in the
center console) and AIRBAG warning light (located in
the instrument cluster) are illuminated the airbag will be
disabled. The Occupant Restraint Controller (ORC) will
not allow front airbag deployment in the event of a
collision for occupants classified into the empty or child
size categories. The PAD indicator light will illuminate
indicating that the Passenger Airbag is OFF when the
OCS has determined that the occupant size category is a
child. Also, when the seat is empty or an object that
weighs less than a predetermined threshold is placed on
the seat, the light will remain OFF. (The PAD indicator
light is an amber light located in the center console.) For
almost all sizes of properly seated adults, the passenger
frontal airbag will be enabled in the event of a collision.
For small teenagers and some small adults, depending on
44 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE
Page 50 of 358
NOTE:When using certain types of child seats, the
passenger airbag light will remain off even though the
passenger front airbags are disabled.
It is always recommended to turn off the passenger front
air bags using the passenger front airbags on/off switch
located at the right end of the instrument panel when the
passenger is:
²an infant (less than 1 year old),
²a child, age 1 to 12,
²an adult with a medical condition which makes pas-
senger airbag inflation (deployment) a greater risk for
the passenger than the risk of hitting the dashboard
(instrument panel) or windshield in a crash.
The on/off switch is accessible by opening the passenger
door.If the airbag is turned off when there is any other
occupant at that position, the supplemental restraint
provided by the airbag will not be available.
To turn OFF the passenger front airbag, use the on/off
switch located on the instrument panel.
48 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE
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WARNING!
After installing a child safety seat or booster seat on the
passenger seat, do not adjust the back rest forward. This
could cause a higher load being perceived by the OCS
system which in turn could lead to the passenger airbag
being turned on. Failure to follow this warning could
result in serious or fatal injury. It is always recom-
mended to turn off the passenger front air bags using
the passenger front airbags on/off switch located at the
right end of the instrument panel when the passenger is:
²an infant (less than 1 year old),
²a child, age 1 to 12,
²an adult with a medical condition which makes
passenger airbags inflation (deployment) a greater
risk for the passenger than the risk of hitting the
dashboard (instrument panel) or windshield in a
crash.
The on/off switch is accessible by opening the passen-
ger door.
WARNING!
Improper installation of a child restraint to the
LATCH anchorages can lead to failure of an infant or
child restraint. The child could be badly injured or
killed. Follow the manufacturer's directions exactly
when installing an infant or child restraint.
Installing Child Restraints Using the Vehicle Seat
Belt
Child restraints can be securely fastened in the passenger
seat using the seat belts. For this purpose, the passenger
seat belt retractor provides two modes of operation -
normal emergency locking and automatic locking. For
child restraint installation, the retractor switches to auto-
matic locking when the belt is pulled out to the full extent
of its travel. As the belt retracts, the retractor locks to
prevent the belt from being pulled out again. Pulling the
58 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE