2008 SUZUKI RENO Owners Manual

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Safety BeltsSafety Belt: They are for EveryoneThis section of the manual tells you how to
use safety belts properly. It also tells you
some things you should not do with safety
belts.
Your vehicle has a light that comes on as a
reminder to buckle up. See “Safety Belt
Reminder Light” in section 3.
In most states and in all Canadian prov-
inces, the law says to wear safety belts.
Here’s why: They work.
You never know if you’ll be in a crash. If
you do have a crash, you don’t know if it
will be a bad one.
A few crashes are mild, and some crashes
can be so serious that even buckled up, a
person wouldn’t survive. But most crashes
are in between. In many of them, people
who buckle up can survive and sometimes
walk away. Without belts they could have
been badly hurt or killed.
After more than 30 years of safety belts in
vehicles, the facts are clear. In most
crashes buckling up does matter ... a lot!
WARNING
 Do not stack luggage or other
cargo higher than the front seats.
 Do not allow passengers to sit on
the folded seatbacks while the
vehicle is in motion.
 Unrestrained luggage or passen-
gers on a folded seatback can be
thrown about or ejected from the
vehicle in a sudden stop or acci-
dent.
Serious injuries or death can result.
WARNING
Don’t let anyone ride where he or she
can’t wear a safety belt properly. If
you are in a crash and you’re not
wearing a safety belt, your injuries
can be much worse. You can hit
things inside the vehicle or be
ejected from it. You can be severely
injured or killed. In the same crash,
you might not be, if you are buckled
up. Always fasten your safety belt,
and check that your passengers’
belts are fastened properly too.
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
severely injured or killed. Do not
allow people to ride in any area of
your vehicle that is not equipped with
seats and safety belts. Be sure every-
one in your vehicle is in a seat and is
using a safety belt properly.
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Why Safety Belts Work
When you ride in or on anything, you go as
fast as it goes.
Take the simplest vehicle. Suppose it’s just
a seat on wheels.
Put someone on it.Get it up to speed. Then stop the vehicle.
The rider doesn’t stop.
The person keeps going until stopped by
something. In a real vehicle, it could be the
windshield...or the instrument panel...
or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the
vehicle does. You get more time to stop.
You stop over more distance, and your
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strongest bones take the forces. That’s
why safety belts make such good sense.Questions and Answers About
Safety BeltsQuestion: Won’t I be trapped in the
vehicle after an accident if I’m wearing a
safety belt?
Answer: You could be – whether you’re
wearing a safety belt or not. But you can
unbuckle a safety belt, even if you’re
upside down. And your chance of being
conscious during and after an accident, so
you can unbuckle and get out, is much
greater if you are belted.
Question: If my vehicle has air bags,
why should I have to wear safety belts?
Answer: Air bags are in many vehicles
today and will be in most of them in the
future. But they are supplemental systems
only; so they work with safety belts – not
instead of them. Every air bag system ever
offered for sale has required the use of
safety belts. Even if you’re in a vehicle that
has air bags, you still have to buckle up to
get the most protection. That’s true not
only in frontal collisions, but especially in
side and other collisions.Question: If I’m a good driver, and I
never drive far from home, why should I
wear safety belts?
Answer: You may be an excellent driver,
but if you’re in an accident – even one that
isn’t your fault – you and your passengers
can be hurt. Being a good driver doesn’t
protect you from things beyond your con-
trol, such as bad drivers.
Most accidents occur within 25 miles (40
km) of home. And the greatest number of
serious injuries and deaths occur at
speeds of less than 40 mph (65 km/h).
Safety belts are for everyone.
How to Wear Safety Belts ProperlyThis section is only for people of adult size.
Be aware that there are special things to
know about safety belts and children. And
there are different rules for smaller children
and babies. If a child will be riding in your
vehicle, see “Older Children” or “Infants
and Young Children” in this section. Follow
those rules for everyone’s protection.
First, you’ll want to know which restraint
systems your vehicle has.
We’ll start with the driver position.Driver PositionThis section describes the driver’s restraint
system.Lap-Shoulder Belt
The driver has a lap-shoulder belt. Here’s
how to wear it properly.
1) Close and lock the door.
2) Adjust the seat so you can sit up
straight. To see how, see “Seats” in the
Index.
3) Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt
across you. Don’t let it get twisted.
The shoulder belt may lock if you pull
the belt across you very quickly. If this
happens, let the belt go back slightly to
unlock it. Then pull the belt across you
more slowly.
4) Push the latch plate into the buckle until
it clicks.
Pull up on the latch plate to make sure
it is secure.
Make sure the release button on the
buckle is positioned so you would be
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able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly
if you ever had to.
5) To make the lap part tight, pull down on
the buckle end of the belt as you pull up
on the shoulder belt. The lap part of the belt should be worn low
and snug on the hips, just touching the
thighs. In a crash, this applies force to the
strong pelvic bones so you’d be less likely
to slide under the lap belt. If you slid under
it, the belt would apply force at your abdo-
men. This could cause serious or even
fatal injuries. The shoulder belt should go
over the shoulder and across the chest.
These parts of the body are best able to
take belt restraining forces.
The safety belt locks if there’s a sudden
stop or crash, or if you pull the belt very
quickly out of the retractor.Shoulder Belt Height Adjuster
Before you begin to drive, move the shoul-
der belt adjuster to the height that is right
for you. Adjust the height so that the shoul-
der portion of the belt is centered on your
shoulder. The belt should be away from
your face and neck, but not falling off your
shoulder.
To move it down, squeeze the release but-
ton and move the height adjuster to the
desired position. You can move the
adjuster up just by pushing up on the
shoulder belt guide. After you move the
adjuster to where you want it, try to move it
down without squeezing the release button
to make sure it has locked into position.
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Question: What’s wrong with this?
Answer: The shoulder belt is too loose. It
won’t give nearly as much protection this
way. Question: What’s wrong with this?
Answer: The belt is buckled in the wrong
place.
WARNING
Be sure that the shoulder belt is posi-
tioned on the center of the outside
shoulder. The belt should be away
from your face and neck, but not fall-
ing off your shoulder. Misadjustment
of the belt could reduce the effective-
ness of the safety belt in a crash.
WARNING
You can be severely hurt if your
shoulder belt is too loose. In a crash,
you would move forward too much,
which could increase injury. The
shoulder belt should fit against your
body.
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WARNING
You can be severely injured if your
belt is buckled in the wrong place. In
a crash, the belt would slide up over
your abdomen. The belt forces would
be at the waist, not at the pelvic
bones. This could cause serious
internal injuries. Always buckle your
belt into the buckle nearest you.
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Question: What’s wrong with this?
Answer: The shoulder belt is worn under
the arm. It should be worn over the shoul-
der at all times.Question: What’s wrong with this?
Answer: The belt is twisted across the
body.To unlatch the belt, just push the button on
the buckle. The belt should go back out of
the way.
Before you close the door, be sure the belt
is out of the way. If you slam the door on it,
you can damage both the belt and your
vehicle.
Safety Belt Use During PregnancySafety belts work for everyone, including
pregnant women. Like all occupants, they
are more likely to be severely injured if they
don’t wear safety belts.
WARNING
You can be severely injured if you
wear the shoulder belt under your
arm. In a crash, your body would
move too far forward, which would
increase the chance of head and neck
injury. Also, the belt would apply too
much force to the ribs, which aren’t
as strong as shoulder bones. You
could also severely injure internal
organs like your liver or spleen.
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WARNING
You can be severely injured by a
twisted belt. In a crash, you wouldn’t
have the full width of the belt to
spread impact forces. If a belt is
twisted, make it straight so it can
work properly, or ask your SUZUKI
dealer to fix it.
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A pregnant woman should wear a lap-
shoulder belt, and the lap portion should
be worn as low as possible, below the
rounding, throughout the pregnancy.
The best way to protect the fetus is to pro-
tect the mother. When a safety belt is worn
properly, it’s more likely that the fetus won’t
be hurt in a crash. For pregnant women, as
for anyone, the key to making safety belts
effective is wearing them properly.
Right Front Passenger PositionTo learn how to wear the right front pas-
senger’s safety belt properly, see “Driver
Position” in this section.
The right front passenger’s safety belt
works the same way as the driver’s safety
belt.Rear Seat PassengersIt’s very important for rear seat passengers
to buckle up! Accident statistics show that
unbelted people in the rear seat are hurt
more often in crashes than those who are
wearing safety belts.
Rear passengers who aren’t safety belted
can be thrown out of the vehicle in a crash.
And they can strike others in the vehicle
who are wearing safety belts.
Lap-Shoulder BeltAll rear seating positions have lap-shoul-
der belts. Here’s how to wear one properly.
1) Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt
across you. Don’t let it get twisted.
The shoulder belt may lock if you pull
the belt across you very quickly. If this
happens, let the belt go back slightly to
unlock it. Then pull the belt across you
more slowly.
2) Push the latch plate into the buckle until
it clicks. Be sure you are using the cor-
rect buckle and that the latch plate
clicks when inserted into the buckle.
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Pull up on the latch plate to make sure
it is secure.
Make sure the release button on the
buckle is positioned so you would be
able to unbuckle the safety belt quickly
if you ever had to.3) To make the lap part tight, pull down on
the buckle end of the belt as you pull up
on the shoulder part.The lap part of the belt should be worn low
and snug on the hips, just touching the
thighs. In a crash this applies force to the
strong pelvic bones so you’d be less likely
to slide under the lap belt. If you slid under
it, the belt would apply force at your abdo-
men. This could cause serious or even
fatal injuries. The shoulder belt should go
over the shoulder and across the chest.
These parts of the body are best able to
take belt-restraining forces.
The safety belt locks if there’s a sudden
stop or a crash, or if you pull the belt very
quickly out of the retractor.
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