Safety Belt
Refer to the following sections for important information
on how to use safety belts properly.
.Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone on page 2‑15.
.How to Wear Safety Belts Properly on page 2‑20.
.Lap-Shoulder Belt on page 2‑29.
.Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH)on page 2‑43.
Sensing System for Passenger
Airbag
The passenger sensing system will turn off the right
front passenger frontal airbag and seat‐mounted side
impact airbag (if equipped) under certain conditions.
The driver airbags are not affected by this.
The passenger airbag status indicator will be visible,
near the clock, located in the center of the instrument
panel when the vehicle is started.
United StatesCanada
See Passenger Sensing System
on page 2‑65for
important information.
1-9
{WARNING:
Children can be seriously injured or strangled if a
shoulder belt is wrapped around their neck and
the safety belt continues to tighten. Never leave
children unattended in a vehicle and never allow
children to play with the safety belts.
Airbags plus lap‐shoulder belts offer protection for
adults and older children, but not for young children and
infants. Neither the vehicle's safety belt system nor its
airbag system is designed for them. Every time infants
and young children ride in vehicles, they should have
the protection provided by appropriate child restraints.
Children who are not restrained properly can strike
other people, or can be thrown out of the vehicle.
{WARNING:
Never do this.
Never hold an infant or a child while riding in a
vehicle. Due to crash forces, an infant or a child
will become so heavy it is not possible to hold it (Continued)
WARNING: (Continued)
during a crash. For example, in a crash at only
40 km/h (25 mph), a 5.5 kg (12 lb) infant will
suddenly become a 110 kg (240 lb) force on a
person's arms. An infant should be secured in an
appropriate restraint.
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Where to Put the Restraint
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat.
We recommend that children and child restraints be
secured in a rear seat, including: an infant or a child
riding in a rear-facing child restraint; a child riding in a
forward-facing child seat; an older child riding in a
booster seat; and children, who are large enough, using
safety belts.
A label on your sun visor says,“Never put a rear-facing
child seat in the front.” This is because the risk to the
rear-facing child is so great, if the airbag deploys.
{WARNING:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger airbag inflates. This is because the
back of the rear-facing child restraint would be
very close to the inflating airbag. A child in a
forward-facing child restraint can be seriously
injured or killed if the right front passenger airbag
inflates and the passenger seat is in a forward
position.
(Continued)
WARNING: (Continued)
Even if the passenger sensing system has turned
off the right front passenger frontal airbag, no
system is fail-safe. No one can guarantee that an
airbag will not deploy under some unusual
circumstance, even though it is turned off.
Secure rear-facing child restraints in a rear seat,
even if the airbag is off. If you secure a
forward-facing child restraint in the right front seat,
always move the front passenger seat as far back
as it will go. It is better to secure the child restraint
in a rear seat.
SeePassenger Sensing System
on page 2‑65
for additional information.
When securing a child restraint in a rear seating
position, study the instructions that came with your child
restraint to make sure it is compatible with this vehicle.
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Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat Position
This vehicle has airbags. A rear seat is a safer place to
secure a forward-facing child restraint. SeeWhere to
Put the Restraint on page 2‑42.
In addition, the vehicle has a passenger sensing system
which is designed to turn off the right front passenger
frontal airbag and seat-mounted side impact airbag
(if equipped) under certain conditions. See Passenger
Sensing System
on page 2‑65and Passenger Airbag
Status Indicatoron page 4‑24for more information on
this, including important safety information.
A label on the sun visor says, “Never put a rear-facing
child seat in the front.” This is because the risk to the
rear-facing child is so great, if the airbag deploys.
{WARNING:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger airbag inflates. This is because the
back of the rear-facing child restraint would be
very close to the inflating airbag. A child in a
forward-facing child restraint can be seriously
(Continued)
WARNING: (Continued)
injured or killed if the right front passenger airbag
inflates and the passenger seat is in a forward
position.
Even if the passenger sensing system has turned
off the right front passenger frontal airbag, no
system is fail-safe. No one can guarantee that an
airbag will not deploy under some unusual
circumstance, even though it is turned off.
Secure rear-facing child restraints in a rear seat,
even if the airbag is off. If you secure a
forward-facing child restraint in the right front seat,
always move the front passenger seat as far back
as it will go. It is better to secure the child restraint
in a rear seat.
SeePassenger Sensing System
on page 2‑65
for additional information.
If the child restraint has the LATCH system, see Lower
Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH)
on
page 2‑43for how to install your child restraint using
LATCH. If a child restraint is secured using a safety belt
2-54
and it uses a top tether, seeLower Anchors and Tethers
for Children (LATCH)on page 2‑43for top tether
anchor locations.
Do not secure a child seat in a position without a top
tether anchor if a national or local law requires that the
top tether be anchored, or if the instructions that come
with the child restraint say that the top strap must be
anchored.
In Canada, the law requires that forward-facing child
restraints have a top tether, and that the tether be
attached.
You will be using the lap-shoulder belt to secure the
child restraint in this position. Follow the instructions
that came with the child restraint.
1. Move the seat as far back as it will go before securing the forward-facing child restraint.
When the passenger sensing system has turned
off the right front passenger frontal airbag and
seat-mounted side impact airbag (if equipped),
the off indicator on the passenger airbag status
indicator should light and stay lit when you start the
vehicle. See Passenger Airbag Status Indicator
on
page 4‑24.
2. Put the child restraint on the seat. 3. Pick up the latch plate, and run the lap and
shoulder portions of the vehicle's safety belt
through or around the restraint. The child restraint
instructions will show you how.
Tilt the latch plate to adjust the belt if needed.
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6. To tighten the belt, push down on the childrestraint, pull the shoulder portion of the belt to
tighten the lap portion of the belt and feed the
shoulder belt back into the retractor. If you are
using a forward-facing child restraint, you may find
it helpful to use your knee to push down on the
child restraint as you tighten the belt.
7. Push and pull the child restraint in different directions to be sure it is secure.
If the airbag or airbags are off, the off indicator in the
passenger airbag status indicator will come on and stay
on when the vehicle is started. If a child restraint has been installed and the off symbol
is not lit, see
“If the On Indicator is Lit for a Child
Restraint” underPassenger Sensing System
on
page 2‑65for more information.
To remove the child restraint, unbuckle the vehicle's
safety belt and let it go back all the way.
Airbag System
The vehicle has the following airbags:
.A frontal airbag for the driver.
.A frontal airbag for the right front passenger.
The vehicle may have the following airbags:
.A seat-mounted side impact airbag for the driver.
.A seat-mounted side impact airbag for the right
front passenger.
All of the airbags in your vehicle will have the word
AIRBAG embossed in the trim or on an attached label
near the deployment opening.
For frontal airbags, the word AIRBAG will appear on the
middle part of the steering wheel for the driver and on
the instrument panel for the right front passenger.
With seat-mounted side impact airbags, the word
AIRBAG will appear on the side of the seatback closest
to the door.
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{WARNING:
Children who are up against, or very close to, any
airbag when it inflates can be seriously injured or
killed. Airbags plus lap-shoulder belts offer
protection for adults and older children, but not for
young children and infants. Neither the vehicle's
safety belt system nor its airbag system is
designed for them. Young children and infants
need the protection that a child restraint system
can provide. Always secure children properly in
your vehicle. To read how, seeOlder Children
on
page 2‑33
or Infants and Young Childrenon
page 2‑36
.
There is an airbag
readiness light on the
instrument panel, which
shows the airbag symbol.
The system checks the airbag electrical system for
malfunctions. The light tells you if there is an electrical
problem. See Airbag Readiness Light
on page 4‑23for
more information.
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What Will You See After an Airbag
Inflates?
After the frontal and seat-mounted side impact airbags
inflate, they quickly deflate, so quickly that some
people may not even realize the airbags inflated.
Some components of the airbag module may be hot for
several minutes. For location of the airbag modules,
seeWhat Makes an Airbag Inflate? on page 2‑63.
The parts of the airbag that come into contact with you
may be warm, but not too hot to touch. There may be
some smoke and dust coming from the vents in the
deflated airbags. Airbag inflation does not prevent the
driver from seeing out of the windshield or being able to
steer the vehicle, nor does it prevent people from
leaving the vehicle.
{WARNING:
When an airbag inflates, there may be dust in the
air. This dust could cause breathing problems for
people with a history of asthma or other breathing
trouble. To avoid this, everyone in the vehicle
should get out as soon as it is safe to do so.
If you have breathing problems but cannot get out
of the vehicle after an airbag inflates, then get (Continued)
WARNING: (Continued)
fresh air by opening a window or a door. If you
experience breathing problems following an airbag
deployment, you should seek medical attention.
The vehicle has a feature that may automatically unlock
the doors, turn the interior lamps on, turn on the hazard
warning flashers, and shut off the fuel system after the
airbags inflate. You can lock the doors, turn the interior
lamps off, and turn the hazard warning flashers off by
using the controls for those features.
{WARNING:
A crash severe enough to inflate the airbags may
have also damaged important functions in the
vehicle, such as the fuel system, brake and
steering systems, etc. Even if the vehicle appears
to be drivable after a moderate crash, there may
be concealed damage that could make it difficult
to safely operate the vehicle.
Use caution if you should attempt to restart the
engine after a crash has occurred.
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