Safety features of your vehicle
30
3
Children riding in the car should sit in the
rear seat and must always be properly
restrained to minimise the risk of injury inan accident, sudden stop or sudden
manoeuvre. According to accident statis-
tics, children are safer when properly
restrained in the rear seats than in the
front seat. Larger children not in a child
restraint should use one of the seat belts
provided. If the child is old enough to sit alone and the car is not equipped with a proper
child or infant seat, the child should be
placed in the rear seat and restrainedwith a lap/sash belt.
You should be aware of the specific
requirements in your country. Child
and/or infant safety seats must be prop-
erly placed and installed in the rear seat.
You must use a commercially available
child restraint system that meets the
requirements of the Safety Standards of
your country.
Child restraint systems are designed to
be secured in vehicle seats by lap belts
or the lap belt portion of a lap/shoulder
belt, or by a tether anchor. Children could be injured or killed in a
crash if their restraints are not properly
secured. For small children and babies, a
child seat or infant seat must be used. Before buying a particular child restraint
system, make sure it fits your car seat
and seat belts, and fits your child. Follow
all the instructions provided by the man-
ufacturer when installing the child
restraint system.
CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM
WARNING
A child restraint system must be placed in the rear seat. Never
install a child or infant seat on the
front passenger's seat. Should anaccident occur and cause the
passenger side air bag to deploy,
it could severely injure or kill an
infant or child seated in an infant
or child seat. Thus only use a
child restraint in the rear seat of
your vehicle.
A child restraint system should be placed in the vehicle's rearseat since this can make an
important contribution to safety.
Unrestrained children should not be carried in the car. Holding a
child in your arms is not a satis-
factory substitute for a child
restraint system. A child held inthis manner can be crushed
between your body and the interi-
or of the car.
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A seat belt or child restraint sys-tem can become very hot if it is
left in a closed vehicle on a sunny
day, even if the outside tempera-
ture does not feel hot. Be sure to
check the seat cover and buckles
before placing a child there.
When the child restraint system is not in use, store it in the lug-
gage area or fasten it with a seat
belt so that it will not be thrown
forward in case of a sudden stopor an accident.
Children may be seriously injured or killed by an inflating air bag.
All children, even those too large
for child restraints, must ride inthe rear seat.
Before installing Child Restraint System to vehicles fitted with
Curtain Airbags, always refer to
safety notices for Curtain Airbag
systems on this manual.
Whenever installing child
restraints, use only approved
devices and refer to "ChildRestraint System" to ensure cor-rect installation and occupant
protection is maximised.
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Safety features of your vehicle
How does the air bag system operate
Air bags are activated (able to inflate ifnecessary) only when the ignition
switch is turned to the ON or STARTposition.
Air bags inflate instantly in the event of a serious frontal or side collision (if
equipped with side air bag or curtainair bag) in order to help protect the
occupants from serious physical injury.
There is no single speed at which the air bags will inflate.
Generally, air bags are designed to
inflate based upon the severity of a col-
lision and its direction. These two fac-
tors determine whether the sensors
produce an electronic deployment/inflation signal.
Air bag deployment depends on a number of factors including vehiclespeed, angles of impact and the densi-
ty and stiffness of the vehicles or
objects which your vehicle hits in the
collision. The determining factors are
not limited to those mentioned above.
The front air bags will completely inflate and deflate in an instant.
It is virtually impossible for you to see
the air bags inflate during an accident. It is much more likely that you will sim-ply see the deflated air bags hanging
out of their storage compartments afterthe collision.
In order to help provide protection in a severe collision, the air bags must
inflate rapidly. The speed of air baginflation is a consequence of the
extremely short time in which a collisionoccurs and the need to inflate the air
bag between the occupant and the
vehicle structures before the occupant
impacts those structures. This speed of
inflation reduces the risk of serious or
life-threatening injuries in a severe col-
lision and is thus a necessary part of airbag design.
However, air bag inflation can also
cause injuries which can include facial
abrasions, bruises and broken bonesbecause the inflation speed also caus-
es the air bags to expand with a great
deal of force.
There are even circumstances under which contact with the steer-
ing wheel air bag can cause fatal
injuries, especially if the occupant
is positioned excessively close tothe steering wheel.
WARNING
To avoid severe personal injury or death caused by deploying air
bags in a collision, the driver
should sit as far back from the
steering wheel air bag as possi-
ble (at least 250 mm (10 inches)
away). The front passengers
should always move their seats
as far back as possible and sit
back in their seat.
Air bags inflate instantly in the event of collision, and passen-
gers may be injured by the air bag
expansion force if they are not in
proper position.
Air bag inflation may cause injuries including facial or bodily
abrasions, injuries from broken
glasses or burns.
347
Safety features of your vehicle
Important safety notes for curtainairbag systems
Following is a number of safety points
concerning this system which should
always be observed to ensure risk of
injury is reduced in an accident.
WARNING
Before installing child restraints, always refer to "Child Restraint System" to ensure correct instal-
lation and occupant protection ismaximised.
Make sure that the occupant does not have any body parts
(head, arms & legs) protruding
outside the restraining system. If
an inflating airbag was to strike
an infant child on the head, it may
cause serious injury.
Ensure the opening for the Curtain Airbag System remains
unobstructed at all times, so that
the airbags can inflate properly ifneeded.
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The built in coat hooks shouldonly be used for light weight
clothing, ensure that pockets are
free of any heavy or sharp
objects. When using coat hooks,
do not hang clothes on coat
hangers.
The space between the occupant and the curtain airbag must never
be occupied by children, passen-
gers or pets. Occupants should
never lean out or have any parts
of their body protruding from the
window whilst the engine is run-ning.
Do not move the sun visor out to cover the side window if there is
an item attached to it such as
garage door remote control,
pens, air fresheners or the like.
These objects may cause injury if
the Curtain Airbag is deployed.
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Where sun blinds are fitted to therear doors, these must not
obstruct or impair the airbag in
any way.
Do not install any accessories or children’s toys in the Curtain
Airbag deployment zones, as this
may impair the operation of the
system or throw parts of them
into the vehicle cabin causing
injury to occupants if the system
is deployed.
To maintain the integrity of the Curtain Airbag system, any work,
removal or installation of the
airbag and associated compo-
nents (such as roof lining and
side trims) should always be per-
formed by a qualified vehicle
repairer.