2008 SMART FORTWO COUPE warning

Occupant safety
50
>> Safety.
Seat beltsThe use of seat belts and infant and child
restraint systems is required by law in all
50 states, the District of Columbia, the
U.S. territories and all Canadian provinces.
Even where this is not the case, all vehicle
occupants should have their seat belts
fastened whenever the vehicle is being oper

ated.
For more information, see "Fastening the seat
belts" (

page 98).
i
For information on infants and children
traveling with you in the vehicle and restraint
systems for infants and children, see
"Children in the vehicle" (

page 65).
In addition, improper repair work on the
SRS creates a risk of rendering the SRS
inoperative or causing unintended air
bag deployment. Work on the SRS must
therefore only be performed by qualified
technicians. Contact an authorized smart
ce nte r . If it is n e ce ssa ry to m od ify a n a ir
bag system to accommodate a person with
disabilities, contact your local autho

rized smart center.
G
Warning!
Always fasten your seat belt before driv

ing. Always make sure all of your passen

gers are properly restrained.
Failure to wear and properly fasten and
position your seat belt greatly increases
your risk of injuries and their likely
severity in an accident. You and your
passenger should always wear seat belts.
If you are ever in an accident, your inju

ries can be considerably more severe
without your seat belt properly buckled.
Without your seat belt buckled, you are
much more likely to hit the interior of the
vehicle or be ejected from it. You can be
seriously injured or killed.
In the same crash, the possibility of
injury or death is lessened if you are
properly wearing your seat belt. Air bags
can only protect you if you are properly
wearing your seat belt.

Occupant safety
>> Safety.
51
G
Warning!
Never ride in a moving vehicle with the
seat backrest in an excessively reclined
position as this can be dangerous. You
could slide under the seat belt in a colli

sion. If you slide under it, the belt would
apply force at the abdomen or neck,
causing serious or even fatal injuries.
The seat backrest and seat belt provide
the best restraint when the wearer is in a
position that is as upright as possible and
the belt is properly positioned on the
body.
G
Warning!
Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are seat belts available. Make
sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
correctly restrained with a separate seat
belt. Never use a seat belt for more than
one person at a time.
G
Warning!
Seat belts of a vehicle involved in an ac

cident must be inspected by smart. Only
then is it possible to determine whether
the seat belts were damaged or stressed
in the accident. Damaged or stressed
seat belts may not properly protect you
in a subsequent accident.
Only use seat belts which have been
approved by smart.
Do not make any modifications to the seat
belts. This can lead to unintended
activation of the Emergency Tensioning
Devices (ETDs) or to their failure to
activate when necessary.
Do not bleach or dye seat belts as this
may severely weaken them. In a crash,
they may not be able to provide adequate
protection.
Have all work carried out only by quali

fied technicians. Contact an authorized
smart center.

Occupant safety
52
>> Safety.G
Warning!
USE SEAT BELTS PROPERLY
• Seat belts can only work when used
properly. Never wear seat belts in any
other way than as described in this
section, as that could result in serious
injuries in case of an accident.
• Each occupant should wear their seat
belt at all times, because seat belts
help reduce the likelihood of and
potential severity of injuries in
accidents, including rollovers. The
integrated restraint system includes
SRS (driver front air bag, passenger
front air bag, head
thorax air bags)
and Emergency Tensioning Devices
(ETDs) with seat belt force limiters.
The system is designed to enhance the
protection provided by secured seat

belts in certain frontal and side im

pacts.
• Never wear the shoulder belt under
your arm, against your neck or off your
shoulder. Doing so may cause your
body to move too far forward in a fron

tal crash, which would increase the
chance of head and neck injuries. The
seat belt would also apply too much
force to the ribs or abdomen, which
could severely injure internal organs
such as your liver or spleen.
• Never wear seat belts over rigid or
breakable objects in or on your cloth

ing, such as eyeglasses, pens, keys,
etc., as these might cause injuries.
• Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips and not across the abdo

men. If the lap seat belt is positioned
across your abdomen, it could cause
serious injuries in a crash.
• Never use a seat belt for more than one
person at time. Do not fasten a single
seat belt around a person and another
person or other objects.
• Seat belts should not be worn twisted.
In a crash, you would not have the full
width of the seat belt to manage impact
forces. The twisted seat belt against
your body could cause injuries.

Occupant safety
54
>> Safety. When the emergency tensioning device is
triggered, the SRS indicator lamp= in the
instrument cluster illuminates, see "SRS indi

cator lamp" (

page 246).The belt force limiter is designed to operate
in unison with the front air bag, which absorbs
a portion of the seat belt's decelerating forc

es, distributing the load over a larger area.
In the event of a head
on or rear
end colli

sion, the emergency tensioning device is ac

tivated if the vehicle is decelerated or
accelerated sufficiently in the longitudinal di

rection at the start of impact with the ignition
switched on.
Air bagsAir bags can reduce the severity of injuries in
serious collisions, e.g. in a head
on collision
or a side impact.
G
Warning!
Once they have been triggered, Emer

gency Tensioning Devices will no longer
function properly and must be replaced.
smart recommends that you visit a quali

fied workshop to have this done. In par

ticular, work relevant to safety or on
safety
related systems must be carried
out at a qualified specialist workshop.
Comply with safety regulations when
disposing of Emergency Tensioning De

vices. These regulations are available at
any smart center.
G
Warning!
Air bags are designed to reduce the
potential of injury in certain frontal
impacts (front air bags), or side impacts
(head
thorax air bags) which may cause
significant injuries. However, no system
available today can completely eliminate
injuries and fatalities.

Occupant safety
>> Safety.
55
The deployment of the air bags tempo

rarily releases a small amount of dust
from the air bags. This dust is neither in

jurious to your health, nor does it indi

cate a fire in the vehicle. The dust might
cause some temporary breathing diffi

culty for people with asthma or other
breathing trouble. To avoid this, you may
wish to get out of the vehicle as soon as it
is sa f e to do so. If you h a ve an y bre a th in g
difficulty but cannot get out of the vehi

cle after the air bag inflates, then get
fresh air by opening a window or door.
G
Warning!
To reduce the risk of injury when the
front air bags inflate, it is very important
for the driver and passenger to always be
in a properly seated position and to wear
their respective seat belt.
For maximum protection in the event of a
collision always be in normal seated posi

tion with your back against the backrest.
Fasten your seat belt and ensure it is
properly positioned on your body
(
page 98).
Since the air bag inflates with consider

able speed and force, a proper seating
and hands on steering wheel position will
help to keep you at a safe distance from
the air bag.
Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi

tion or too close to the air bag can be
seriously injured or killed by an air bag
as it inflates extremely quickly and with
great force:
• Sit properly belted in a position that is
as upright as possible with your back
against the seat backrest.
• Adjust the driver’s seat as far as pos

sible rearward, still permitting proper
operation of vehicle controls. The dis

tance from the center of the driver’s
breastbone to the center of the air bag
cover on the steering wheel must be at
least 10 inches (25 cm) or more. You
should be able to accomplish this by
adjustments to the seat. If you have any
problems, please contact an autho

rized smart center.
• Do no t l e an yo ur he a d or che st cl ose to
the steering wheel or dashboard.

Occupant safety
56
>> Safety.
i
Air bags are designed to deploy only in
certain frontal impacts (front air bags), and in
side impacts (head
thorax air bags) which
exceed preset thresholds. Only during these
events will they provide their supplemental
protection.
The driver and passenger should always wear
their seat belts. Otherwise it is not possible
for air bags to provide their supplemental
protection.
In case of other types of impacts and impacts
below air bag deployment thresholds, air bags
will not deploy. The driver and passenger will
then be protected to the extent possible by a
properly fastened seat belt. A properly fas

tened seat belt is also needed to provide the
best possible protection in a rollover.
We caution you not to rely on the presence of
the air bags in order to avoid wearing your
seat belt.
It is important to your safety and that of your
passenger that you replace deployed air bags
and repair any malfunctioning air bags to
make sure the vehicle will continue to provide
supplemental crash protection for occupants.Safety guidelines for the seat belt,
Emergency Tensioning Devices (ETDs) and
air bag
• Keep hands on the outside of the steer

ing wheel rim. Placing hands and arms
inside the rim can increase the risk and
potential severity of hand/arm injury
when the driver’s front air bag
inflates.
• Adjust the passenger seat as far as
possible rearward from the dashboard
when the seat is occupied.
• Occupants, especially children, should
always sit as upright as possible,
properly use the seat belts and use an
appropriately sized infant restraint,
toddler restraint, or booster seat
recommended for the size and weight
of the child.
Failure to follow these instructions can
result in severe injuries to you or other
occupants.
If you sell your vehicle, it is important
that you make the buyer aware of this
safety information. Be sure to give the
buyer this Operator’s Manual.
G
Warning!
• Damaged seat belts or seat belts that
were highly stressed in an accident
must be replaced and their anchoring
points must also be checked. Only use
seat belts installed or supplied by an
authorized smart center.
• Air bags and Emergency Tensioning
Devices (ETDs) contain Perchlorate
material, which may require special
handling and regard for the environ

ment. Check with your local govern

ment’s disposal guidelines. California
residents, see http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/
Hazardous Waste/Perchlorate/
index.cfm.

Occupant safety
58
>> Safety. How the air bag operates
The air bag is inflated in a matter of
milliseconds. If the air bag is triggered, the
SRS indicator lamp in the instrument cluster
illuminates.
!
If the air bags are activated, you will hear
a loud noise and some dust may be generated.
The explosion fundamentally represents no
risk to your hearing.
The inflated air bag slows down and reduces
the movement of the occupant. When the
occupant makes contact with the air bag, hot
gas flows out of the inflated front air bags and
head
thorax air bags. This reduces the load
on the occupant’s head and upper body. These
air bags are consequently deflated after the
accident.Head
thorax air bags
G
Warning!
There is a possibility for a head
thorax
air bag related injury if occupants, espe

cially children, are not properly seated
or restrained when next to a head
thorax
air bag which needs to deploy rapidly in a
side impact in order to do its job.
To help avoid the possibility of injury,
please follow these guidelines:
(1) Occupants, especially children,
should never place their bodies or
lean their heads in the area of the
door where the head
thorax air bag
inflates. This could result in serious
injuries or death should the head

thorax air bag be deployed.
(2) Always sit as upright as possible,
properly use the seat belts, and for all
children 12 years old or under, use an
appropriately sized infant restraint,
toddler restraint, or booster seat
recommended for the size and weight
of the child.
(3) Always wear seat belts properly.G
Warning!
Only use seat covers which have been
tested and approved by smart for your
vehicle model. Using other seat covers
may interfere with or prevent the deploy

ment of the head
thorax air bags.
Contact an authorized smart center for
availability.

Occupant safety
>> Safety.
61
i
If the seat, including the trim cover and
cushion, needs to be serviced in any way, take
the vehicle to an authorized smart center.
Only seat accessories approved by smart may
be used.
Both driver and the passenger should always
use the57 indicator lamp as an
indication of whether or not the passenger is
properly positioned (

page 64).
G
Warning!
If the57 indicator lamp illu

minates when an adult or someone larger
than a small individual is in the passenger
seat, have the passenger re
position
himself or herself in the seat until
the57 indicator lamp goes
out.
In the event of a collision, the air bag
control unit will not allow passenger front
air bag deployment when the OCS classi

fied the passenger seat occupant as
being up to or less than the weight of a
typical 12
month
old child in a standard
child restraint or if the passenger seat is
sensed as being empty.
When the OCS senses that the passenger
seat occupant is classified as being up to
or less than the weight of a typical
12
month
old child in a standard child
restraint, the57 indicator
lamp will illuminate when the ignition is
switched on and remain illuminated, indi

cating that the passenger front air bag is
deactivated.
When the OCS senses that the passenger
seat is classified as being empty,
the57 indicator lamp will
illuminate and remains illuminated.
When the OCS senses that the passenger
seat occupant is classified as being
heavier than the weight of a typical
12
month
old child seated in a standard
child restraint or as being a small indi

vidual (such as a young teenager or a
small adult), the57 indica

tor lamp will illuminate for approximately
4 seconds when the ignition is switched
on and then, depending on occupant
weight sensor readings from the seat,
remains illuminated or goes out.
When the57 indicator lamp
is illuminated, the passenger front air
bag is deactivated.
When the57 indicator lamp
is out and the passenger seat is occupied
by an adult or someone larger than a
small individual, the passenger front air
bag is activated.