2010 DODGE DAKOTA Owners Manual

Auto Unlock On Exit Feature — If Equipped
This feature unlocks all of the doors of the vehicle when
any door is opened. This will occur only after the vehicle
has been shifted into the PARK position after the vehicle
has been driven (shifted out of PARK and the doors
closed).
Auto Unlock Feature Programming
The Customer Programming sequence to disable or en-
able Auto Unlock:
1. Enter your vehicle and close all the doors.
2. Fasten your seat belt. (Fastening the seat belt will
cancel any chiming that may be confusing during this
programming procedure.)
3. Insert the key into the ignition.4. Within 15 seconds, cycle the key from the LOCK
position to the ON position and back to LOCK position,
a minimum of four times; ending in the LOCK position.
(Do not start the engine.)
5. Within 30 seconds, press the driver’s door LOCK
switch in the UNLOCK direction.
6. A single chime will sound to indicate the feature has
been changed.
7. To reactivate the feature, repeat the above steps.
8. If a chime is not heard, program mode was canceled
before the feature could be changed. If necessary, repeat
the above procedure.
32 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

Child Protection Door Lock
To provide a safer environment for children riding in the
rear seat, the rear doors of your vehicle have the child-
protection door lock system.To use the system, open each rear door, slide the lever up
to engage the locks, and down to disengage the child-
protection locks. When the system on a door is engaged,
that door can only be opened by using the outside door
handle, even if the inside door lock is in the unlocked
position.
WARNING!
Avoid trapping anyone in a vehicle in a collision.
Remember that the rear doors can only be opened
from the outside when the child protection locks are
engaged.
NOTE:
•After setting the child protection door lock system,
always test the door from the inside to make certain it
is in the desired position.
Child Lock Lever
2
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 33

•For emergency exit with the system engaged, move
the door lock switch to the UNLOCK position, roll
down the window and open the door with the outside
door handle.
WINDOWS
Power Windows
The control on the left front door has up-down switches
that give you finger-tip control of all the power windows.
There is a single opening and closing switch on the
passenger doors for passenger window control. The
windows will operate when the ignition switch is turned
to the ON or ACC position, and for ten minutes after the
ignition is turned OFF or the driver’s door is opened.
Power Window Switch
34 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

WARNING!
Never leave children alone in a vehicle. Leaving
unattended children in a vehicle is dangerous for a
number of reasons. A child or others could be seri-
ously or fatally injured. Don’t leave the key in the
ignition. A child could operate power windows,
other controls, or move the vehicle.
Auto-Down — Driver’s Side Only
The driver’s window switch has an Auto-Down feature.
Push the window switch past the first detent, release, and
the window will go down automatically. To cancel the
Auto-Down movement, operate the switch in either the
up or down direction and release the switch.
Window Lockout Switch
The Window Lockout Switch on the driver’s door allows
you to disable the window control on the other doors. To
disable the window controls on the other doors, press the
Window Lockout button. To enable the window controls,
press the Window Lockout button a second time.
Power Window Lockout Switch
2
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 35

Wind Buffeting
Wind buffeting can be described as the perception of
pressure on the ears or a helicopter-type sound in the
ears. Your vehicle may exhibit wind buffeting with the
windows down or partially open. This is a normal
occurrence and can be minimized. If the buffeting occurs
with the rear windows open, open the front and rear
windows together to minimize the buffeting.
OCCUPANT RESTRAINTS
Some of the most important safety features in your
vehicle are the restraint systems:
•Three-point lap and shoulder belts for all seating
positions
•Advanced Front Airbags for driver and front passen-
ger
•Supplemental Side Airbag Inflatable Curtains (SABIC)
for the driver and passengers seated next to a window
— if equipped
•An energy-absorbing steering column and steering
wheel
•Knee bolsters/blockers for front seat occupants
•Front seat belts incorporate pretensioners to enhance
occupant protection by managing occupant energy
during an impact event — if equipped
If you will be carrying children too small for adult-sized
seat belts, the seat belts or the Lower Anchors and Tether
for CHildren (LATCH) feature can be used to hold infant
and child restraint systems. For more information on
LATCH, see Lower Anchors and Tether for CHildren
(LATCH).
36 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

NOTE:The Advanced Front Airbags have a multistage
inflator design. This allows the airbag to have different
rates of inflation based on severity and type of collision.
Please pay close attention to the information in this
section. It tells you how to use your restraint system
properly, to keep you and your passengers as safe as
possible.
WARNING!
In a collision, you and your passengers can suffer
much greater injuries if you are not properly buckled
up. You can strike the interior of your vehicle or other
passengers, or you can be thrown out of the vehicle.
Always be sure you and others in your vehicle are
buckled up properly.
Buckle up even though you are an excellent driver, even
on short trips. Someone on the road may be a poor driver and cause a collision that includes you. This can happen
far away from home or on your own street.
Research has shown that seat belts save lives, and they
can reduce the seriousness of injuries in a collision. Some
of the worst injuries happen when people are thrown
from the vehicle. Seat belts reduce the possibility of
ejection and the risk of injury caused by striking the
inside of the vehicle.
Everyone in a motor vehicle should
be belted at all times.Lap/Shoulder Belts
All seating positions, except the front center seating
position (with full bench seat), have combination lap/
shoulder belts. The belt webbing retractor is designed to
lock during very sudden stops or collisions. This feature
allows the shoulder part of the belt to move freely with
you under normal conditions. But in a collision, the belt
will lock and reduce the risk of you striking the inside of
the vehicle or being thrown out.
2
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 37

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 seri-
ously 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.(Continued)
WARNING! (Continued)
•Wearing a seat belt incorrectly is dangerous. Seat
belts are designed to go around the large bones of
your body. These are the strongest parts of your
body and can take the forces of a collision the best.
Wearing your belt in the wrong place could make
your injuries in a collision much worse. You might
suffer internal injuries, or you could even slide out
of part of the belt. Follow these instructions to
wear your seat belt safely and to keep your pas-
sengers safe, too.
•Two people should never be belted into a single
seat belt. People belted together can crash into one
another in an accident, hurting one another badly.
Never use a lap/shoulder belt or a lap belt for more
than one person, no matter what their size.
38 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

Lap/Shoulder Belt Operating Instructions
1. Enter the vehicle and close the door. Sit back and
adjust the seat.
2. The seat belt latch plate is above the back of the front
seat, next to your arm in the rear seat. Grasp the latchplate and pull out the belt. Slide the latch plate up the
webbing as far as necessary to allow the belt to go around
your lap.
3. When the belt is long enough to fit, insert the latch
plate into the buckle until you hear a “click.”
Pulling Out Belt and Latch PlateLatch Plate To Buckle
2
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