
PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
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.
WARNING:All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an
airbag supplemental restraint system (SRS) is provided.
WARNING:It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area,
inside or outside of a vehicle. In a collision, people riding in these
areas are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow
people to ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with
seats and safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and
using a safety belt properly.
WARNING:In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is
significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a safety
belt.
WARNING:Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific
safety belt assembly which is made up of one buckle and one
tongue that are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt
on the outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the
arm. 2) Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside
shoulder. 3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.
WARNING:When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position.
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WARNING:Safety belts and seats can become hot in a vehicle
that has been closed up in sunny weather; they could burn a
small child. Check seat covers and buckles before you place a child
anywhere near them.
WARNING:Front and rear seat occupants, including pregnant
women, should wear safety belts for optimum protection in an
accident.
All seating positions in this vehicle have lap and shoulder safety belts. All
occupants of the vehicle should always properly wear their safety belts,
even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided.
The safety belt system consists of:
•Lap and shoulder safety belts.
•Shoulder safety belt with automatic locking mode, (except driver
safety belt).
•Height adjuster at the front outboard seating positions
•Safety belt pretensioner at the front outboard seating positions.
•Safety belt warning light and chime. SeeSafety belt warning
light and indicator chimelater in this chapter.
•Crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness
indicator. SeeCrash sensors and airbag indicatorin the
Supplemental Restraints Systemchapter.
The safety belt pretensioners are designed to activate in frontal or
near-frontal collisions and may deploy in rollovers if the vehicle is
equipped with roll stability control. The safety belt pretensioners at the
front seating positions are designed to tighten the safety belts firmly
against the occupant’s body when activated. This helps increase the
effectiveness of the safety belts.
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PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
WARNING:Airbags DO NOT inflate slowly or gently, and the
risk of injury from a deploying airbag is the greatest close to the
trim covering the airbag module.
WARNING:All occupants of your vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an
airbag supplemental restraint system is provided.
WARNING:Always transport children 12 years old and under in
the back seat and always properly use appropriate child
restraints.
WARNING:Never place your arm over the airbag module as a
deploying airbag can result in serious arm fractures or other
injuries.
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
NEVER place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active airbag.
If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the
seat all the way back.
WARNING:Do not attempt to service, repair, or modify the
airbag supplemental restraint systems or its fuses. Contact your
authorized dealer as soon as possible.
WARNING:Several airbag system components get hot after
inflation. Do not touch them after inflation.
WARNING:If the airbag has deployed, the airbag will not
function again and must be replaced immediately. If the airbag is
not replaced, the unrepaired area will increase the risk of injury in a
collision.
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The airbags are a supplemental restraint system and are designed to
work with the safety belts to help protect the driver and right front
passenger from certain upper body injuries. Airbags DO NOT inflate
slowly; there is a risk of injury from a deploying airbag.
Note:You will hear a loud bang and see a cloud of harmless powdery
residue if an airbag deploys. This is normal.
The airbags inflate and deflate rapidly upon activation. After airbag
deployment, it is normal to notice a smoke-like, powdery residue or smell
the burnt propellant. This may consist of cornstarch, talcum powder (to
lubricate the bag) or sodium compounds (e.g., baking soda) that result
from the combustion process that inflates the airbag. Small amounts of
sodium hydroxide may be present which may irritate the skin and eyes,
but none of the residue is toxic. While the system is designed to help
reduce serious injuries, contact with a deploying airbag may also cause
abrasions or swelling. Temporary hearing loss is also a possibility as a
result of the noise associated with a deploying airbag. Because airbags
must inflate rapidly and with considerable force, there is the risk of
death or serious injuries, such as fractures, facial and eye injuries or
internal injuries, particularly to occupants who are not properly
restrained or are otherwise out of position at the time of airbag
deployment. Thus, it is extremely important that occupants be properly
restrained as far away from the airbag module as possible while
maintaining vehicle control.
Routine maintenance of the airbags is not required.
SOS POST-CRASH ALERT SYSTEM™
The system flashes the turn signal lamps and sounds the horn
(intermittently) in the event of a serious impact that deploys an airbag
equipped on your vehicle, such as front, side, side curtain or Safety
Canopy.
The horn and lamps will turn off when:
•the hazard control button is pressed
•the panic button (if equipped) is pressed on the remote entry
transmitter, or
•your vehicle runs out of power.
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DRIVER AND PASSENGER AIRBAGS
WARNING:Never place your arm or any objects over an airbag
module. Placing your arm over a deploying airbag can result in
serious arm fractures or other injuries. Objects placed on or over the
airbag inflation area may cause those objects to be propelled by the
airbag into your face and torso causing serious injury.
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
Never place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active airbag. If
you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the
seat all the way back.
The driver and front passenger
airbags will deploy during significant
frontal and near frontal collisions.
The driver and passenger front airbag system consists of:
•Driver and passenger airbag modules
•Crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness
indicator. SeeCrash Sensors and Airbag Indicatorlater in
this chapter.
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Proper Driver and Front Passenger Seating Adjustment
WARNING:National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) recommends a minimum distance of at least 10 inches (25
centimeters) between an occupant’s chest and the driver airbag module.
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.
After all occupants have adjusted their seats and put on safety belts, it is
very important that they continue to sit properly. A properly seated
occupant sits upright, leaning against the seat back, and centered on the
seat cushion, with their feet comfortably extended on the floor. Sitting
improperly can increase the chance of injury in a crash event. For
example, if an occupant slouches, lies down, turns sideways, sits forward,
leans forward or sideways, or puts one or both feet up, the chance of
injury during a crash is greatly increased.
Children and Airbags
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
NEVER place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active airbag.
If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the
seat all the way back.
Children must always be properly
restrained. Accident statistics
suggest that children are safer when
properly restrained in the rear
seating positions than in the front
seating position. Failure to follow
these instructions may increase the
risk of injury in a collision.
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Passenger Airbag ON/OFF Switch (if equipped)
WARNING:An airbag ON/OFF switch (if equipped) may have
been installed in this vehicle. Before driving, always look at the
face of the switch to be sure the switch is in the proper position in
accordance with these instructions and warnings. Failure to put the
switch in a proper position can increase the risk of serious injury or
death in a collision.
Note: The passenger airbag
ON/OFF switch (if equipped) may
be on vehicles with no rear seats
and a gross vehicle weight rating
(GVWR) greater than 8500 lb
(3856 kg). See theTowingchapter
for more information.
Turning the Passenger Airbag Off
WARNING:If the light fails to illuminate when the passenger air
bag switch is in the OFF position and the ignition switch is in
ON, contact your authorized dealer as soon as possible.
WARNING:In order to avoid inadvertent activation of the
switch, always remove the ignition key from the passenger air
bag ON/OFF switch.
OFF
ON OFFPASSENGER
AIRBAG
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WARNING:An infant in a rear-facing seat faces a high risk of
serious or fatal injuries from a deploying passenger airbag. Rear
facing infant seats should NEVER be placed in the front seats, unless
the passenger airbag is turned off.
1. Insert the ignition key, turn the
switch to off, and hold in the off
position while removing the key.
2. When the ignition is turned to
off, the off light illuminates briefly,
momentarily shuts off and then
turns back on. This indicates that
the passenger airbag is deactivated.
Turning the Passenger Airbag Back On
WARNING:The safety belts for the driver and right front
passenger seating positions have been specifically designed to
function together with the airbags in certain types of crashes. When
you turn OFF your airbag, you not only lose the protection of the
airbag, you also may reduce the effectiveness of your safety belt
system, which was designed to work with the airbag. If you are not a
person who meets the requirements stated in the NHTSA/Transport
Canada deactivation criteria turning OFF the airbag can increase the
risk of serious injury or death in a collision.
WARNING:If your vehicle has rear seats, always transport
children who are 12 and younger in a rear seating position.
Always use safety belts and child restraints properly. DO NOT place a
child in a rear facing infant seat in the front seat unless your vehicle is
equipped with an airbag ON/OFF switch and the passenger airbag is
turned OFF. This is because the back of the infant seat is too close to
the inflating airbag and the risk of a fatal injury to the infant when the
airbag inflates is substantial.
OFF
ON OFFPASSENGER
AIRBAG
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