2008 MAZDA MODEL TRIBUTE HEV Owners Manual

WARNING: Remove the head
restraint stored under the
front set and return it to the
original position on the
seatback. Failure to do so
could result in personal injury.3. Unsnap the seat belt webbing from the quarter trim panel.
To remove the rear cushion 1. Lift the yellow tab to release the hinges.
2. Pull the cushion to the outboard side of the vehicle.
To install the rear cushion 1. Push the cushion to the inboard side of the vehicle.
2. Make sure that the hinges are locked into place.
SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Personal Safety System™
The Personal Safety System™ provides an improved overall level of
frontal crash protection to front seat occupants and is designed to help
further reduce the risk of airbag-related injuries. The system is able to
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analyze different occupant conditions and crash severity before activating
the appropriate safety devices to help better protect a range of
occupants in a variety of frontal crash situations.
Your vehicle’s Personal Safety System™ consists of:
•Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints
• Front seat belts with pretensioners, energy management retractors,
and seat belt usage sensors
• Front passenger sensing system
• “Passenger airbag off” or “pass airbag off” indicator lamp
• Front crash severity sensor
• Restraints Control Module (RCM) with impact and safing sensors
• Driver’s seat position sensor
• Restraint system warning light and back-up tone
• The electrical wiring for the airbags, crash sensor(s), seat belt
pretensioners, front seat belt usage sensors, driver seat position
sensor, front passenger sensing system, and indicator lights
How does the Personal Safety System™ work?
The Personal Safety System™ can adapt the deployment strategy of your
vehicle’s safety devices according to crash severity and occupant
conditions. A collection of crash and occupant sensors provides
information to the Restraints control module (RCM). During a crash, the
RCM activates the seat belt pretensioners and/or both stages of the
dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints based on crash severity and
occupant conditions.
The fact that the pretensioners or airbags did not activate for both front
seat occupants in a collision does not mean that something is wrong with
the system. Rather, it means the Personal Safety System™ determined
the accident conditions (crash severity, belt usage, etc.) were not
appropriate to activate these safety devices. Front airbags are designed
to activate only in frontal and near-frontal collisions, not rollovers,
side-impacts, or rear-impacts unless the collision causes sufficient
longitudinal deceleration.
Dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints
The dual-stage airbag offers the capability to tailor the level of airbag
inflation energy. A lower, less forceful energy level is provided for more
common, moderate-severity impacts. A higher energy level is used for
the most severe impacts. Refer to Airbag supplemental restraints
section in this chapter.
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Front crash severity sensor
The front crash severity sensor enhances the ability to detect the
severity of an impact. Positioned up front, it provides valuable
information early in the crash event on the severity of the impact. This
allows your Safety System to distinguish between different levels of crash
severity and modify the deployment strategy of the dual-stage airbag and
seat belt pretensioners.
Driver’s seat position sensor
The driver’s seat position sensor allows your Safety System to tailor the
deployment level of the driver airbag based on seat position. The system
is designed to help protect smaller drivers sitting close to the driver
airbag by providing a lower airbag output level.
Front passenger sensing system
For airbags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the airbag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, like infants
in rear-facing child seats, this occurs because they are initially sitting
very close to the airbag. For other occupants, this occurs when the
occupant is not properly restrained by seat belts or child safety seats and
they move forward during pre-crash braking. The most effective way to
reduce the risk of unnecessary injuries is to make sure all occupants are
properly restrained. Accident statistics suggest that children are much
safer when properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in the
front.WARNING: Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
NEVER place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active
airbag. If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front
seat, move the seat all the way back.
WARNING: Always transport children 12 years old and under
in the back seat and always properly use appropriate child
restraints.
The front passenger sensing system can automatically turn off the
passenger front airbag. The system is designed to help protect small
(child size) occupants from airbag deployments when they are
improperly seated or restrained in the front passenger seat contrary to
proper child-seating or restraint usage recommendations. Even with this
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technology, parents areSTRONGLYencouraged to always properly
restrain children in the rear seat. The sensor also turns off the passenger
front airbag and seat-mounted side airbag (if equipped) when the
passenger seat is empty to prevent unnecessary replacement of airbag(s)
after a collision.
When the front passenger seat is occupied and the sensing system has
turned off the passenger’s frontal airbag, the “pass airbag off” indicator
will light and stay lit to remind you that the front passenger frontal
airbag is off. See Front passenger sensing system in the airbags section
of this chapter.
Front seat belt usage sensors
The front seat belt usage sensors detect whether or not the driver and
front outboard passenger seat belts are fastened. This information allows
your Safety System to tailor the airbag deployment and seat belt
pretensioner activation depending upon seat belt usage. Refer to Seat
belt section in this chapter.
Front seat belt pretensioners
The seat belt pretensioners at the front outboard seating positions are
designed to tighten the seat belts firmly against the occupant’s body
during frontal collisions, and in side collisions and rollovers when the
vehicle is equipped with the Safety Canopy™ system. This helps increase
the effectiveness of the seat belts. In frontal collisions, the seat belt
pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the collision is of sufficient
severity, together with the front airbags.
Front seat belt energy management retractors
The front outboard seat belt energy management retractors, once
initiated, allow webbing to be pulled out of the retractor in a gradual and
controlled manner in response to the occupant’s forward momentum.
This helps reduce the risk of force-related injuries to the occupant’s
chest by limiting the load on the occupant. Refer to Energy
management feature section in this chapter.
Determining if the Personal Safety System is operational
The Safety System uses a warning light in the instrument cluster or a
back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer to the
Warning lights and chimes section in theInstrument Cluster chapter.
Routine maintenance of the Safety System is not required.
The Restraints control module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the airbag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
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seat belt pretensioners, front seat belt buckle sensors, driver seat
position sensor, and front passenger sensing system. In addition, the
RCM also monitors the restraints warning light in the instrument cluster.
A difficulty with the system is indicated by one or more of the following.
•The warning light will either flash or stay lit.
• The warning light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is
turned on.
• A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and warning light are repaired.
If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Safety
System serviced at an authorized dealer immediately. Unless serviced,
the system may not function properly in the event of a collision.
Safety restraints precautions
WARNING: Always drive and ride with your seatback upright
and the lap belt snug and low across the hips and the shoulder
belt snug across the chest.
WARNING: To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit
where they can be properly restrained.
WARNING: Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap
while the vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the
child from injury in a collision.
WARNING: All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their seat belts, even when an air
bag supplemental restraint system (SRS) is provided.
WARNING: It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area,
inside or outside of a vehicle. In a collision, people riding in
these areas are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do
not allow people to ride in any area of your vehicle that is not
equipped with seats and seat belts. Be sure everyone in your
vehicle is in a seat and using a seat belt properly.
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WARNING: In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is
significantly more likely to die or be seriously injured than a
person wearing a seat belt.
WARNING: Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific
seat belt assembly which is made up of one buckle and one
tongue that are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the
shoulder belt on the outside shoulder only. Never wear the
shoulder belt under the arm. 2) Never swing the seat belt
around your neck over the inside shoulder. 3) Never use a
single belt for more than one person.
WARNING: Placing a child, 12 years or younger, in the front
seat is dangerous. The child could be hit by a deploying airbag
and be seriously injured or even killed. A sleeping child is more
likely to lean against the door and be hit by the side airbag (if
equipped) in a moderate collision. Whenever possible, always
secure a child, 12 years or younger, in the rear seat, with an
appropriate child restraint system for the child’s age and size.
Never use a rear-facing child restraint system in the front seat
with an airbag that could deploy.
Combination lap and shoulder belts 1. Insert the belt tongue into the proper buckle (the buckle
closest to the direction the
tongue is coming from) until
you hear a snap and feel it
latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely fastened in the buckle.
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2. To unfasten, push the releasebutton and remove the tongue
from the buckle.
Energy Management Feature
• This vehicle has a seat belt system with an energy management
feature at the front outboard seating positions to help further reduce
the risk of injury in the event of a head-on collision.
• The front outboard seat belt system has a retractor assembly that is
designed to extend the seat belt webbing in a controlled manner. This
helps reduce the belt force acting on the user’s chest.
All seat belts in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder belts. The
passenger seat belts have two types of locking modes described below:
Vehicle sensitive mode
This is the normal retractor mode, which allows free shoulder belt length
adjustment to your movements and locking in response to vehicle
movement. For example, if the driver brakes suddenly or turns a corner
sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of approximately 5 mph
(8 km/h) or more, the combination seat belts will lock to help reduce
forward movement of the driver and passengers.
Automatic locking mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt is automatically pre-locked. The belt will
still retract to remove any slack in the shoulder belt. The automatic
locking mode is not available on the driver seat belt.
This mode should be used any timea child safety seat (other than a
belt-positioning booster) is installed. Children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in the rear seat whenever possible. Refer
to Safety restraints for children orSafety seats for children later in
this chapter.
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How to use the automatic locking mode
•Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
• Grasp the shoulder portion and
pull downward until the entire
belt is pulled out.
• Allow the belt to retract. As the belt retracts, you will hear a clicking
sound. This indicates the seat belt is now in the automatic locking
mode.
How to disengage the automatic locking mode
Disconnect the combination lap/shoulder belt and allow it to retract
completely to disengage the automatic locking mode and activate the
vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode. WARNING: After a collision all seat belts should be checked
for proper function. In addition, the automatic locking retractor
function in all but the driver’s seat must be checked by an
authorized dealer to confirm the child restraint system
functions properly.
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