2008 MAZDA MODEL MX-5 MIATA POWER RETRACTABLE HARDTOP Owners Manual

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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 passenger 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 passenger's seat lap/shoulder belt retractors operate in two modes: emergency
locking mode, and for child-restraint systems, automatic locking mode.
Your vehicle is equipped with LATCH lower anchors for securing the LATCH child-
restraint system in the passenger seat but there is no child-restraint tether available. As
there is no rear seat on this vehicle, the preferred location for children, following the
manufacturer's instructions on the LATCH child restraint-system and this owner's manual is
important (page 2-25).
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
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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 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.
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.
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. Have an Authorized Mazda Dealer inspect all seat belt
systems in use during an accident before they are used again.
Have your seat belts changed immediately if the pretensioner or load limiter has
been expended: If the air bags deploy the corresponding pretensioner(s) may also deploy at the same
time. While it is safer to use a crash-used seat belt that was used in an accident than
no seat belt at all, using a seat belt with an expended pretensioner or load limiter
loaded reduces the safety available to you. 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 seat belts
inspected.
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Seat Belt Systems
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CAUTION
Belt retraction may become difficult if the belts and seat belt guides 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 8-57).
Seat belt guide
q Pregnant 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.
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.
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Seat Belt Systems
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qAutomatic Locking Mode
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. If the LATCH lower anchors are not used alone for LATCH style
junior seats and infant carriers without tethers, always use the automatic locking mode to
keep the child-restraint system from shifting to an unsafe position in the event of an
accident. See the section on child restraint (page 2-17).
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Seat Belt
WARNING
Always wear the seat belt with it
correctly routed in its guide:Wearing a seat belt without the seat
belt routed in its guide is dangerous
because the seat belt would not be
able to provide adequate protection
in an accident, which could result in
serious injury.
Seat belt guide
qFastening the Seat Belt
1. Grasp the tongue.
2. Slowly pull out the lap/shoulder belt.
Belt
Tongue
3. Insert the tongue into the buckle until you hear a click.
Tongue
Buckle
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.
Too high
Take up slack
Keep low on
hip bone
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Seat Belt Systems
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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.
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.
qSeat Belt Caution Label
A caution label has been placed inside the
sleeve of the lap portion of the driver's
seat belt. When an accident occurs while
the seat belt is in use, the resulting stress
on the seat belt will cause an indicator
with the words “REPLACE BELT ”
visible on it to be pulled out of the sleeve
below the caution label. This indicates
that THE SEAT BELT MUST BE
REPLACED .
Also note that if at any time the seat belt
has undergone stress because of an
accident or other reason, damage to the
seat belt's webbing, metal fittings, or
anchor bolt may have occurred, even
though nothing appears to be wrong with
the seat belt. For this reason we
recommend that the seat belt be replaced
after it has undergone stress, whether or
not the indicator has been pulled out.
Caution
label
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Seat Belt Pretensioner and
Load Limiting Systems
For optimum protection, the driver and
passenger seat belts are equipped with
pretensioner and load limiting systems.
For both these systems to work properly
you must wear the seat belt properly.
Pretensioners:
In moderate or severe frontal or near-
frontal accidents, the air bag and
pretensioner systems deploy
simultaneously. The seat belt retractors
remove slack quickly as the air bags are
expanding.
In addition, the pretensioner system for
the passenger, like the passenger air bag,
is designed to only deploy in accordance
with the total seated weight on the
passenger seat (page 2-38) or when the
passenger air bag deactivation switch
turned to the ON position (page 2-32).
Any time the air bags and seat belt
pretensioners have fired they must be
replaced.
Load limiter:
The load limiting system releases belt
webbing in a controlled manner to reduce
belt force on the occupant's chest. While
the most severe load on a seat belt occurs
in frontal collisions, the load limiter has
an automatic mechanical function and can
activate in any accident mode with
sufficient occupant movement.
Even if the pretensioners have not fired,
the load limiting function must be
checked by an Authorized Mazda Dealer.
WARNING
Wear seat belts only as recommended
in this owner's manual:Incorrect positioning of the driver and
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 2-9).
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Seat Belt Systems
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Have your seat belts changed
immediately if the pretensioner or load
limiter has been expended:If the air bags deploy the
corresponding pretensioner(s) may
also deploy at the same time. While it
is safer to use a crash-used seat belt
that was used in an accident than no
seat belt at all, using a seat belt with
an expended pretensioner or load
limiter loaded reduces the safety
available to you. 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
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. Properly dispose of the pretensioner
system:
Improper disposal of the pretensioner
system or a vehicle with non-
deactivated pretensioners is
dangerous. Unless all safety
procedures are followed, injury could
result. Ask an Authorized Mazda
Dealer how to safely dispose of the
pretensioner system or how to scrap
a pretensioner-equipped vehicle.
NOTE
lThe pretensioner system will activate in a
moderate or greater frontal or near-frontal
collision. The pretensioner system for the
passenger is designed to only deploy in
accordance with the total seated weight on
the passenger seat. It will not activate in
most rollovers, side or rear impacts.
lSome smoke (non-toxic gas) will be
released when the air bags and
pretensioners deploy. This does not indicate
a fire. This gas normally has no effect on
occupants, however, those with sensitive
skin may experience light skin irritation. If
residue from the deployment of the air bags
or the pretensioner system gets on the skin
or in the eyes, wash it off as soon as
possible.
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