WARNING:Do not drive
the vehicle when the third
row seat is rotated backwards.
During a sudden stop, the safety
belts are not functional in this
position, and during a sudden
stop, the third row seat can
rapidly tip back to the forward
position, all of which may result in
serious injury.
Closing the liftgate
WARNING:To avoid injury to third row occupants when closing
the liftgate, ensure that the head of any occupant is not in the
path of the closing liftgate.
SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Personal Safety System™
The Personal Safety System provides an improved overall level of frontal
crash protection to front seat occupants and is designed to help further
reduce the risk of airbag-related injuries. The system is able to analyze
different occupant conditions and crash severity before activating the
appropriate safety devices to help better protect a range of occupants in
a variety of frontal crash situations.
Your vehicle’s Personal Safety System consists of:
•Driver and passenger dual-stage airbag supplemental restraints.
•Front outboard safety belts with pretensioners, energy management
retractors (first row only), and safety belt usage sensors.
•Driver’s seat position sensor.
•Front passenger sensing system
•“Passenger airbag off” or “pass airbag off” indicator lamp
•Front crash severity sensor.
•Restraints Control Module (RCM) with impact and safing sensors.
•Restraint system warning light and back-up tone.
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limiting the load on the occupant. Refer toEnergy management
feature- front outboardsection in this chapter.
Determining if the Personal Safety System is operational
The Personal Safety System uses a warning light in the instrument
cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer
to theWarning lights and chimessection in theInstrument Cluster
chapter. Routine maintenance of the Personal Safety System is not
required.
The Restraints Control Module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the airbag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
safety belt pretensioners, front safety belt buckle sensors, driver seat
position sensor, and front passenger sensing system. In addition, the
RCM also monitors the restraints warning light in the instrument cluster.
A difficulty with the system is indicated by one or more of the following.
•The warning light will either flash or stay lit.
•The warning light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is
turned on.
•A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and warning light are repaired.
If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Personal
Safety System serviced at an authorized dealer immediately. Unless
serviced, the system may not function properly in the event of a
collision.
Safety belt precautions
WARNING:Always drive and ride with your seatback upright
and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.
WARNING:To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit
where they can be properly restrained.
WARNING:Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap
while the vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the
child from injury in a collision.
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Both the outer and inner shoulder
belts must be kept in the stowage
clip together to prevent the
potential of wrinkling the cargo
shade.
WARNING:Do not stow
only one portion of the
shoulder belt in the stowage clip.
Wearing the shoulder belt in this
condition increases the amount of
belt slack and may reduce the
effectiveness of the safety belt in
the event of a collision.
Safety belt locking modes
All safety restraints in the vehicle are combination lap and shoulder
belts. The driver safety belt has the first locking mode and the front
outboard passenger and rear seat safety belts have both types of locking
modes described as follows:
Vehicle sensitive mode
This is the normal retractor mode, which allows free shoulder belt length
adjustment to your movements and locking in response to vehicle
movement. For example, if the driver brakes suddenly or turns a corner
sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of approximately 5 mph
(8 km/h) or more, the combination safety belts will lock to help reduce
forward movement of the driver and passengers.
In addition, the retractor is designed to lock if the webbing is pulled out
too quickly. If this occurs, let the belt retract slightly and pull webbing
out again in a slow and controlled manner.
Automatic locking mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt is automatically pre-locked. The belt will
still retract to remove any slack in the shoulder belt. The automatic
locking mode is not available on the driver safety belt.
When to use the automatic locking mode
This mode should be usedany timea child safety seat, except a
booster, is installed in passenger front or rear seating positions. Children
12 years old and under should be properly restrained in a rear seating
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WARNING:Do not use extensions to change the fit of the
shoulder belt across the torso.
Front safety belt height adjustment
Your vehicle has safety belt height
adjustments at the front outboard
seating positions. Adjust the height
of the shoulder belt so the belt rests
across the middle of your shoulder.
To adjust the shoulder belt height,
squeeze and hold the buttons on the
side and slide the height adjuster up
or down. Release the buttons and
pull down on the height adjuster to
make sure it is locked in place.
WARNING:Position the safety belt height adjusters so that the
belt rests across the middle of your shoulder. Failure to adjust
the safety belt properly could reduce the effectiveness of the safety
belt and increase the risk of injury in a collision.
Safety belt warning light and indicator chime
The safety belt warning light illuminates in the instrument cluster and a
chime sounds to remind the occupants to fasten their safety belts.
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Conditions of operation
If... Then...
The driver’s safety belt is not
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the on
position...The safety belt warning light
illuminates 1-2 minutes and the
warning chime sounds 4-8 seconds.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled while the indicator
light is illuminated and the
warning chime is sounding...The safety belt warning light and
warning chime turn off.
The driver’s safety belt is
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the on
position...The safety belt warning light and
indicator chime remain off.
Belt-Minder
The Belt-Minderfeature is a supplemental warning to the safety belt
warning function. This feature provides additional reminders by
intermittently sounding a chime and illuminating the safety belt warning
light in the instrument cluster when the driver’s and front passenger’s
safety belt is unbuckled.
The Belt-Minderfeature uses information from the front passenger
sensing system to determine if a front seat passenger is present and
therefore potentially in need of a warning. To avoid activating the
Belt-Minderfeature for objects placed in the front passenger seat,
warnings will only be given to large front seat occupants as determined
by the front passenger sensing system.
Both the driver’s and passenger’s safety belt usages are monitored and
either may activate the Belt-Minderfeature. The warnings are the same
for the driver and the front passenger. If the Belt-Minderwarnings have
expired (warnings for approximately five minutes) for one occupant
(driver or front passenger), the other occupant can still activate the
Belt-Minderfeature.
Note:If you are using MyKey™, the Belt-Minderwarning will not
expire. Refer toMyKey™in theLocks and Securitychapter.
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If... Then...
The driver’s and front
passenger’s safety belts are
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the on
position or less than
1-2 minutes have elapsed since
the ignition switch has been
turned to on...The Belt-Minderfeature will not
activate.
The driver’s or front
passenger’s safety belt is not
buckled when the vehicle has
reached at least 3 mph
(5 km/h) and 1-2 minutes have
elapsed since the ignition
switch has been turned to on...The Belt-Minderfeature is activated
- the safety belt warning light
illuminates and the warning chime
sounds for six seconds every
30 seconds, repeating for
approximately five minutes or until
the safety belts are buckled.
The driver’s or front
passenger’s safety belt becomes
unbuckled for approximately
one minute while the vehicle is
traveling at least 3 mph
(5 km/h) and more than
1-2 minutes have elapsed since
the ignition switch has been
turned to on...The Belt-Minderfeature is activated
- the safety belt warning light
illuminates and the warning chime
sounds for six seconds every
30 seconds, repeating for
approximately five minutes or until
the safety belts are buckled.
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WARNING:While the design allows you to deactivate your
Belt-Minder, this system is designed to improve your chances of
being safely belted and surviving an accident. We recommend you
leave the Belt-Mindersystem activated for yourself and others who
may use the vehicle. To reduce the risk of injury, do not
deactivate/activate the Belt-Minderfeature while driving the vehicle.
1. Turn the ignition on. DO NOT START THE ENGINE.
2. Wait until the safety belt warning light turns off (Approximately one
minute).
3. Wait 10 seconds after the safety belt warning light turns off.
•Step 4 must be completed within 20 seconds after the completion of
Step 3.
4. For the seating position being disabled buckle then unbuckle the
safety belt three times at a moderate speed, ending in the unbuckled
state.
•After Step 4, the safety belt warning light will be turned on for three
seconds.
5. Within approximately seven seconds of the light turning off, buckle
then unbuckle the safety belt.
•This will disable the Belt-Minderfeature for that seating position if it
is currently enabled. As confirmation, the safety belt warning light will
flash four times per second for three seconds.
•This will enable the Belt-Minderfeature for that seating position if it
is currently disabled. As confirmation, the safety belt warning light will
flash four times per second for three seconds, followed by three
seconds with the light off, then followed by the safety belt warning
light flashing four times per second for three seconds again.
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WARNING:Do not place any object between an occupant and
an airbag or near any other airbag covering. The airbag may not
inflate properly and might force an object into that person causing
severe injury or death. The instrument panel grab handle should never
be used for storage. The path of an inflating airbag must be kept clear
at all times.
WARNING:All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an air
bag supplemental restraint system (SRS) is provided.
WARNING:When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position.
WARNING:The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) recommends a minimum distance of at least 10 inches
(25 cm) between an occupant’s chest and the driver airbag module.
WARNING:Never place your arm over the air bag module as a
deploying air bag can result in serious arm fractures or other
injuries.
To properly position yourself away from the airbag:
•Move your seat to the rear as far as you can while still reaching the
pedals comfortably.
•Recline the seat slightly one or two degrees from the upright position.
WARNING:Do not put anything on or over the air bag module.
Placing objects on or over the air bag inflation area may cause
those objects to be propelled by the air bag into your face and torso
causing serious injury.
WARNING:Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the
airbag supplemental restraint systems or its fuses. See your
authorized dealer.
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