-Passengers must always sit in an upright
position and never lean against or place
any part of their body too close to the
area where the airbags are located.
- Passengers who are unbelted, out of po
sition or too close to the airbag can be
seriously injured by an airbag as it un
folds with great force in the blink of an
eye.
- Always make sure that there are at least
10 inches (25 cm) between the front
passenger's breastbone and the instru
ment panel.
- Always make sure that there are at least
4 inches (10 cm) between the front pas
senger's knees and the lower part of the
instrument panel.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat
of their own and properly fasten and
wear the safety belt belonging to that
seat.
- Before driving, always adjust the front
passenger seat and head restraint prop
er ly.
- Always keep your feet on the floor in
front of the seat. Never rest them on the
seat, instrument panel, out of the win
dow, etc. The airbag system and safety
belt will not be able to protect you prop
erly and can even increase the risk of in
jury in a crash .
- Never drive with the backrest reclined or
tilted far back! The farther the backrests
are tilted back, the greater the risk of in
jury due to incorrect positioning of the
safety belt and improper seating posi
tion.
- Children must always ride in child seats
¢
page 176. Special precautions apply
when installing a child seat on the front
passenger seat ¢
page 152.
Driving Safely 137
Proper seating positions for passengers
in rear seats
Rear seat passengers must sit upright with
both feet on the floor consistent with their
physical size and be properly restrained
whenever the vehicle is in use.
To reduce the risk of injury caused by an incor
rect seating position in the event of a sudden
braking maneuver or an accident, your pas
sengers on the rear bench seat must always
observe the following:
.,. Adjust the head restraint so the upper edge
is as even as possible with the top of your
head. If that is not possible, try to adjust
the head restraint so that it is as close to
this position as possible¢
page 138 .
.,. Keep both feet flat in the footwell in front
of the rear seat.
.,. Fasten and wear safety belts properly
¢page 147.
.,. Make sure that children are always properly
restrained in a child restraint that is appro
priate for their size and age~
page 176.
,& WARNING
..-
Passengers who are improperly seated on
the rear seat can be seriously injured in a
crash.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat
of their own and properly fasten and
wear the safety belt belonging to that seat.
- Safety belts only offer maximum protec
tion when the safety belts are properly
positioned on the body and securely
latched . By not sitting upright, a rear
seat passenger increases the risk of per
sonal injury from improperly positioned
safety belts!
- Always adjust the head restraint properly
so that it can give maximum protection.
•
•
162 Airbag sys tem
electronic contro l uni t (the PAS SENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on) .
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the risk of serious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the air
bags inflate, the driver and passengers
must always sit in an upright position,
must not lean against or place any part
of the ir body too close to the area where
the a irbags are located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi
t ion or too close to the airbag can be se
riously injured by an airbag as it unfolds
with great force in the blink of an eye
~page 154.
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child sea t in
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad
vanced Airbag System.
-The inflating ai rbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the backrest , center armrest, door or
roof .
- Always install rear-facing child seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child seat on the front passenger seat
because of except iona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi
ately i nstall the rea r-facing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Au di dealer.
A WARNING
Objects be tween you and the a irbag will
increase the risk of in jury in a c rash by in
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
or by being pushed into yo u as the a irbag
inf lates. -
Never hold things in you r hands o r on
your lap when the veh icle is in use.
- Never transpo rt items on or in t he a rea
of the front passenger seat. Objects
could move into the area of the front air
bags during braking or other sudden ma
neuvers and become dangero us projec
tiles that can cause ser ious personal in
jury if the a irbags inf late .
- Never p lace or attach accesso ries o r oth
er objects (such as cup hold ers, te le
phone b ra ck ets, large, heavy or bulky ob
jects) on the doors, ove r o r ne ar the are a
marked "AIRBAG" on the s teer ing whee l,
instr ument panel, sea t bac krests o r be
tween those areas and yourself. T hese
objects could ca use in jury in a crash, es
pecially when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects. Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide airbag or
the front a irbag during braki ng or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects near the air
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y, partic ularly when the seat is re
clined.
A WARNING
The fine dus t create d when air bags deploy
c a n cause breathing p rob lems fo r people
wi th a history of as thma or other breath
i ng cond itions.
- T o reduce the risk of breath ing pro blems,
those with asthma or othe r respiratory
conditions s hou ld get fresh air right
away by getting o ut o f the veh icle or
open ing windows or doors .
- If you are in a collision in which airbags
deploy, wash your hands and face with
mild soap and water before eating.
- Be careful not to get the dust into your
eyes, or into any c uts or scratches.
- If the res id ue should get into your eyes,
f lush them w ith water.
192 Child Safe ty
- Never mount more than one chi ld re
straint to a single tether or to a lower an
chorage point. Attaching two child re
straints to a single anchorage point can cause the anchorage to fail and cause se
rious personal inju ry in a crash.
(D Note
- Remove the guidance fixtures before
fold ing the rear seatback to prevent
damaging the seat cushion.
- To attach the child restraint secure ly, the
seat must be moved to the farthest rear pos ition, the seat height set to the low
est posit ion and the head restra int must
be adjusted to the verti cal position
¢page 60.
-If you leave the guidance fixtures instal
l ed for several days, they could leave a
mark on the upho lstery o n the sea t cush
i on and backrest in the a rea that the
guidance fixtures were insta lled . The up
ho lstery would also be permanently
stretched around the guidance fixtures.
This applies especially to leather seats.
Installing a child restraint with LATCH
lower anchorages
Whenever you install a child restraint always
follow the child restraint manufacturer's in
structions.
F ig. 1 85 Lower a nchorages: proper mounting
Mounting
"" Make sure the sea tba ck of the rear sea t
bench is in the upright position and sec urely
l atched in place. ""
Attach both hook -on connectors with the
spring catch release on the child safety seat
onto the LATCH lower anchorage so that the
connectors lock into place¢
fig. 185.
"" Pull on the connector attachments to make
sure they are p roper ly attached to the LATCH
lower anchorage .
"" Pull straps tight fo llow ing the child re
straint manufacture r's instructions.
Releasing
"" Loosen the tension on the straps following
the ch ild restra int manufacturer's instruc
tions .
"" Depress the spring catches to release the
anchorage hooks from the lowe r anchorag
es.
Remember: Use tether straps to help keep the
ch ild restra int fi rm ly in pla ce.
.&_ WARNING
Improper use of the LATCH system ca n in
crease the risk of serious pe rsonal injury
and death in a n accident.
- These ancho rs were deve loped on ly for
child safety seats using the "LA TCH" sys
tem .
- Never at ta ch other ch ild safety sea ts,
be lts or other objects to these anchors.
- Always make sure that you hear a click
when latch ing the seat in place . If you do
not hear a click the seat is not secure and
could fly forward and hit the interior of
the vehicle, or be e jected from the vehi
cle .
.&_ WARNING
-
Improper installat ion of child restra ints
will increase the r isk of injury i n an acci
dent.
- Always follow the child restraint system
manufacturer's instruct ions for proper
i n stallation of the ch ild restra int system
and p roper use of teth er straps as well as
the lower anchorages or safety bel ts in
-
your veh icle. Ii-