124 Airbag system
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restrained for their age and size. The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a ch ild to ride.
The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward-facing child safety seat. It
can be a very dangerous place for an infant or
a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the require
ments of United States Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup
pressed") if a child up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for
ward -facing infant restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat . For a listing of the child re
strai nts that we re used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
r=v page 145.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit.
Each t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PAS
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if there is a small child or child restraint on the front passenger seat,
- wi ll go off if the front passenger seat is oc
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat
r=v page 133, Monitor
ing the Advanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control un it detects a total weight
on the front passenger seat that requires the
front airbag to be turned off.
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typica l 1 year -old
chi ld but less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front airbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the electronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the control unit senses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory .
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
( re gard less of whether the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed
r=v page 145), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger s ide may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult or teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitting upright with their back against a
non-reclined backrest with their feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the seat is on the front
passenger seat
r=v page 104, Proper seating
position for the driver.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury t hroug h interaction with the
airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions
as defined in the electronic control unit
r=v page 133, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carr ier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of posit ion by the rap
idly inflat ing passenger's airbag in a frontal
collision . The air bag could greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even
seriously injure the child during inflation .
-Accident statistics have shown that chil
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating posit ion.
- For their own safety, all children, espe
cially 12 years and younger, sho uld al
ways ride in the back properly restrained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is equipped w ith a front Advanced
A irbag System in compliance with Un ited
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety S tanda rd
208 as applicab le a t the time your vehicle was
manufac tured .
The front Advanced Airbag System supple ments the safety belts to provide add it iona l
p rotection fo r the driver's and fron t passeng
e r' s heads and upper bodies in fronta l crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle dece leration is high enough .
The fron t Advanced A irbag Sys tem for the
front seat occ upants is no t a substi tute for
your safety bel ts. Rather, it is part of the over
a ll occupa nt restraint system in your vehicle.
A lways remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you, if you are s itting up
right, wearing your safety belt and wearing it
properly . This is w hy you and your passenge rs
must always be properly restrai ned, not just
because the law requires you to be .
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been certified to meet the " low r isk" re
qu irements for 3 and 6 year-o ld childre n on
the passenger s ide and very small adu lts on
the dr iver side. The low ris k dep loymen t cr ite
ria are intended to he lp red uce the risk of i n
j ury thro ugh in teraction with the front airbag
that can occ ur, fo r example, by being too
close to the steering whee l and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates.
I n addition, the sys tem has been certif ied to
comp ly with the "suppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restra ined on the front passenger
A irbag system 127
seat in child rest raints that are listed in the
Standard
¢ page 145 .
"Supp ress ion" requi res the fron t airbag on t he
passenge r sid e to be turned off if:
- a child up to abo ut one year of age is re
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of t he rear-fa cing o r fo rward -f a cing infan t
res traints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified. For a listing o f the chi ld restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com
pliance w ith the US Safety Standard
¢page 145,
- weight less than a thresho ld level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas
senge r seat.
When a person is detected on the front pas
senger seat, weighing more than the total
weight of a chi ld that is about 1 year old re
stra ined in one of the rear -fac ing or forward
facing infant restraints ( listed in Fede ral Mo
tor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with whic h
t h e Advanced A irbag Sys tem in yo ur vehicle
was certified), the fron t airbag on the passen
ger side may or may not dep loy .
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes o n
whe n the elect ro nic cont ro l unit de tects a to
ta l we igh t on the front p assenger sea t that re
quires the front airbag to be t urned off .
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front ai rbag on the passenger
s ide has not been t urned off by the contro l
u nit and can dep loy if the control un it senses
an impact that meets the cond itions stored i n
its memory .
If the total weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-old,
but less than the we ight of a small adu lt, the
front a irbag on t he passenger side may dep loy
(the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on) .
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small chi ld that is heav ie r than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat ..,. •
•