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Front Seats (Manually
Operated Seats)
WARNING
Do not modify or replace the front
seats:
Modifying or replacing the front seats
such as replacing the upholstery or
loosening any bolts is dangerous. The
front seats contain air bag
components essential to the
supplemental restraint system. Such
modifications could damage the
supplemental restraint system and
result in serious injury. Consult an
Authorized Mazda Dealer if there is
any need to remove or reinstall the
front seats.
Do not drive with damaged front seats:
Driving with damaged front seats is
dangerous. A collision, even one not
strong enough to inflate the air bags,
could damage the front seats which
contain essential air bag
components. If there was a
subsequent collision, an air bag may
not deploy which could lead to
injuries. Always have an Authorized
Mazda Dealer inspect the front seats,
front seat belt pretensioners and air
bags after a collision.Make sure the adjustable components
of a seat are locked in place:
Adjustable seats and seatbacks that
are not securely locked are
dangerous. In a sudden stop or
collision, the seat or seatback could
move, causing injury. Make sure the
adjustable components of the seat
are locked in place by attempting to
slide the seat forward and backward
and rocking the seatback.
Adjust the driver's seat only when the
vehicle is stopped:
Adjusting the driver's seat while the
vehicle is moving is dangerous. The
driver could lose control of the vehicle
and have an accident.
CAUTION
Be careful not to place your hands
and fingers around moving parts of
the front seat when adjusting the
seat positions to prevent injury.
qSeat Slide
To move a seat forward or backward, raise
the lever and slide the seat to the desired
position and release the lever.
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Seats
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Rear Seat
WARNING
Do not stack cargo higher than the
seatbacks:
Stacking luggage or other cargo
higher than the seatbacks, and
placing articles on the rear seat is
dangerous. During sudden braking
or a collision, objects can fly around
and become projectiles that may hit
and injure passengers.
Make sure luggage and cargo are
secured before driving:
Not securing cargo while driving is
dangerous as it could move or be
crushed during sudden braking or a
collision and cause injury.
Make sure the adjustable components
of a seat are locked in place:
Adjustable seats that are not securely
locked are dangerous. In a sudden
stop or collision, the seat or seatback
could move, causing injury.
Do not drive with the seatback
unlocked:
All of the seatbacks play an
important role in your protection in a
vehicle. Leaving the seatback
unlocked is dangerous as it can allow
passengers to be ejected or thrown
around and baggage to strike
occupants in a sudden stop or
collision, resulting in severe injury.
After returning the seatback at any
time, even when there are no other
passengers, rock the seatback to
make sure it is locked in place.Never allow a passenger to sit or stand
on the folded seatback while the
vehicle is moving:
Driving with a passenger on the
folded seatback is dangerous.
Allowing a child to sit up on the
folded seatback while the vehicle is
moving is particularly dangerous. In
a sudden stop or even a minor
collision, a child not in a proper seat
or child-restraint system and seat
belt could be thrown forward, back
or even out of the vehicle resulting in
serious injuries or death. The child in
the baggage area could be thrown
into other occupants and cause
serious injury.
CAUTION
Be careful not to place your hands
and fingers around moving parts of
the rear seat when adjusting the seat
positions to prevent injury.
NOTE
When returning a rear seat to its original
position, also replace the seat belt to its
normal position. Verify that the seat belt pulls
out and retracts.
Essential Safety Equipment
Seats
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Seat Belt Precautions
Seat belts help to decrease the possibility of severe injury during accidents and sudden
stops. Mazda recommends that the driver and all passengers always wear seat belts.
All of the seat belt retractors are designed to keep the lap/shoulder belts out of the way
when not in use.
The driver's seat belt has no provisions for child-restraint systems and has only an
emergency locking mode. The driver may wear it comfortably, and it will lock during a
collision.
However, the front passenger's seat and all rear lap/shoulder belt retractors operate in two
modes: emergency locking mode, and for child-restraint systems, automatic locking mode.
While we recommend you put all children in the rear seats, if you must use the front
passenger seat for a child, slide the front passenger seat as far back as possible and make
sure any child-restraint system is secured properly.
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
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qRetracting the Center Seat Belt to
Lower the Seatbacks for
Carrying Cargo
To retract the center belt and lower the
seatbacks for carrying cargo, insert a
small object such as a key in the seat belt
anchor buckle (B) slot.
(B)
(A)
CAUTION
Always unfasten the lap portion of
the belt before folding the left-rear
seatback. Leaving the lap portion of
the belt fastened could cause
damage to the seat belt, seat belt
buckle and seatback.
qStowing and pulling out the
Center-Rear Position Seat Belt
The center-rear position seat belt can be
stowed using the following procedure.
CAUTION
When stowing the seat belt, make
sure the belt is locked securely into
the recess. If the seat belt is not
properly stowed, it might get caught
in the seats and be damaged.To stow the seat belt, retract the belt, put
the seat belt tongues (A) and (C) together
and insert them into the recess.
(A)
(C) Ceiling recess
To pull out the seat belt, slide the seat belt
tongue (A) with your finger while moving
it downward, and slowly pull out the seat
belt from the ceiling recess.
NOTElTo encourage rear seat passengers to wear
their seat belts, we suggest leaving the
center-rear lap position of the belt fastened
at all times except when folding the rear
seat forward.
lPulling the seat belt all the way out will
switch it to automatic locking mode. If
automatic locking mode is not needed,
retract the seat belt fully to convert it back
to emergency locking mode.
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
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qRe-attaching the Seat Belt after
the Rear Seatbacks are Returned
to their Upright Positions
To re-attach the center seat belt after the
rear seats are returned to their upright
positions, grasp the seat belt tongue (A)
and insert it into the seat belt anchor
buckle (B) until you hear a click sound. It
is now secure for passenger use.
NOTE
After returning the left-rear seatback to its
upright position, fasten the lap portion of the
belt.
Seat Belt Extender
If your seat belt is not long enough, even
when fully extended, a seat belt extender
may be available to you at no charge from
your Authorized Mazda Dealer.
This extender will be only for you and for
the particular vehicle and seat. Even if it
plugs into other seat belts, it may not hold
in the critical moment of a crash.
When ordering an extender, only order
one that provides the necessary additional
length to fasten the seat belt properly.
Please contact your Authorized Mazda
Dealer for more information.
WARNING
Do not use a seat belt extender unless
it is necessary:
Using a seat belt extender when not
necessary is dangerous. The seat belt
will be too long and not fit properly.
In an accident, the seat belt will not
provide adequate protection and you
could be seriously injured. Only use
the extender when it is required to
fasten the seat belt properly.
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Seat Belt Systems
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Child Restraint Precautions
Mazda strongly urges the use of child-restraint systems for children small enough to use
them.
You are required by law to use a child-restraint system for children in the U.S. and Canada.
Check your local and state or provincial laws for specific requirements regarding the safety
of children riding in your vehicle.
Whatever child-restraint system you consider, please pick the appropriate one for the age
and size of the child, obey the law and follow the instructions that come with the individual
child-restraint system.
A child who has outgrown child-restraint systems should sit in the rear and use seat belts,
both lap and shoulder. If the shoulder belt crosses the neck or face, move the child closer to
the center of the vehicle in the outboard seats, and towards the buckle on the right if the
child is seated on the center seat.
Statistics confirm that the rear seat is the best place for all children up to 12 years of age,
and more so with a supplemental restraint system (air bags).
A rear-facing child-restraint system shouldNEVERbe used on the front seat with the air
bag system activated. The front passenger's seat is also the least preferred seat for other
child-restraint systems.
To reduce the chance of injuries caused by deployment of the front passenger air bag, the
front passenger seat weight sensors work as a part of the supplemental restraint system.
This system deactivates the front passenger front and side air bags and also the front
passenger seat belt pretensioner system when the front passenger air bag deactivation
indicator light illuminates.
When an infant or small child sits on the front passenger seat, the system shuts off the front
passenger front and side air bags and seat belt pretensioner system, so make sure the front
passenger air bag deactivation indicator light illuminates.
Even if the front passenger air bag is shut off, Mazda strongly recommends that children be
properly restrained and child-restraint systems of all kinds are properly secured on the rear
seats which are the best place for children.
For more details, refer to“Front passenger seat weight sensors”(page 2-59).
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Child Restraint
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WARNING
Use the correct size child-restraint system:
For effective protection in vehicle accidents and sudden stops, a child must be
properly restrained using a seat belt or child-restraint system depending on age and
size. If not, the child could be seriously injured or even killed in an accident.
Follow the manufacturer's instructions and always keep the child-restraint system
buckled down:
An unsecured child-restraint system is dangerous. In a sudden stop or a collision it
could move causing serious injury or death to the child or other occupants. Make
sure any child-restraint system is properly secured in place according to the child-
restraint system manufacturer's instructions. When not in use, remove it from the
vehicle or fasten it with a seat belt, or latch it down to BOTH LATCH lower anchors
for LATCH child-restraint systems and the corresponding tether anchor.
Always secure a child in a proper child-restraint system:
Holding a child in your arms while the vehicle is moving is extremely dangerous. No
matter how strong the person may be, he or she cannot hold onto a child in a
sudden stop or collision and it could result in serious injury or death to the child or
other occupants. Even in a moderate accident, the child may be exposed to air bag
forces that could result in serious injury or death to the child, or the child may be
slammed into an adult, causing injury to both child and adult.
Never use a rear-facing child-restraint system in the front seat with an air bag that
could deploy:
Rear-facing child-restraint systems on the front seat are particularly dangerous even
though you may feel assured that a front passenger air bag will not deploy based on
the fact that the front passenger air bag deactivation indicator light illuminates. The
child-restraint system can be hit by a deploying air bag and moved violently
backward resulting in serious injury or death to the child.
Essential Safety Equipment
Child Restraint
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Do not allow a child or anyone to lean over or against the side window of a vehicle
with side and curtain air bags:
It is dangerous to allow anyone to lean over or against the side window, the area of
the front passenger seat, the front and rear window pillars and the roof edge along
both sides from which the side and curtain air bags deploy, even if a child-restraint
system is used. The impact of inflation from a side or curtain air bag could cause
serious injury or death to an out of position child. Furthermore, leaning over or
against the front door could block the side and curtain air bags and eliminate the
advantages of supplemental protection. With the front air bag and the additional
side air bag that comes out of the front seat, the rear seat is always a better location
for children. Take special care not to allow a child to lean over or against the side
window, even if the child is seated in a child-restraint system.
Never use one seat belt on more than one person at a time:
Using one seat belt for more than one person at a time is dangerous. A seat belt
used in this way cannot spread the impact forces properly and the two passengers
could be crushed together and seriously injured or even killed. Never use one belt for
more than one person at a time and always operate the vehicle with each occupant
properly restrained.
Always remove the child-restraint system from the rear seat before operating the
remote handle levers for the rear seat:
Operating the remote handle levers while a rear-facing child-restraint system is in
the rear seat is dangerous. It could cause injury to a child seated in the child-
restraint system when the seatback suddenly flips forward.
CAUTION
A seat belt or child-restraint system can become very hot in a closed vehicle during
warm weather. To avoid burning yourself or a child, check them before you or your
child touches them.
NOTE
Your Mazda is equipped with LATCH lower anchors for attachment of specially designed LATCH
child-restraint systems in the rear seat. When using these anchors to secure a child-restraint system,
refer to“LATCH Child-Restraint Systems”(page 2-41).
Essential Safety Equipment
Child Restraint
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