Safety features of your vehicle
74 3
•Do not place items under the
front seats.Placing items under
the front seats could interfere with
the operation of the supplemental
restraint system sensing compo-
nents and wiring harnesses.
•Never hold an infant or child on
your lap.The infant or child could
be seriously injured or killed in the
event of a crash. All infants and
children should be properly
restrained in appropriate child
safety seats or seat belts in the
rear seat.Adding equipment to or modi-
fying your air bag-equipped
vehicle
If you modify your vehicle by chang-
ing your vehicle's frame, bumper sys-
tem, front end or side sheet metal or
ride height, this may affect the oper-
ation of your vehicle's air bag sys-
tem.
Air bag warning label
(if equipped)
Air bag warning labels are attached
to alert driver and passengers of
potential risk of air bag system.
Note that these government warn-
ings focus on the risk of children. We
also want you to be aware of the
risks adults are exposed to which
have been described in previous
pages.WARNING
• Sitting improperly or out of
position can cause occupants
to be shifted too close to a
deploying air bag, strike the
interior structure or be thrown
from the vehicle resulting in
serious injury or death.
• Always sit upright with the
seatback in an upright posi-
tion, centered on the seat
cushion with your seat belt
on, legs comfortably extended
and your feet on the floor.
ODMESA2007
Driving your vehicle
22 5
Automatic transaxle operation
The highly efficient automatic
transaxle has 6 forward speeds and
one reverse speed. The individual
speeds are selected automatically,
depending on the position of the shift
lever.
✽NOTICE
The first few shifts on a new vehicle,
if the battery has been disconnected,
may be somewhat abrupt. This is a
normal condition, and the shifting
sequence will adjust after shifts are
cycled a few times by the TCM
(Transaxle Control Module) or
PCM (Powertrain Control Module).
For smooth operation, depress the
brake pedal when shifting from N
(Neutral) to a forward or reverse
gear.
WARNING- Automatic
transaxle
• Always check the surrounding
areas near your vehicle for
people, especially children,
before shifting a vehicle into
D (Drive) or R (Reverse).
• Before leaving the driver’s
seat, always make sure the
shift lever is in the P (Park)
position; then set the parking
brake fully and shut the
engine off. Unexpected and
sudden vehicle movement
can occur if these precautions
are not followed in the order
identified.
• Do not use the engine brake
(shifting from a high gear to
lower gear) rapidly on slip-
pery roads. The vehicle may
slip causing an accident.
CAUTION
• To avoid damage to your
transaxle, do not accelerate
the engine in R (Reverse) or
any forward gear position with
the brakes on.
• When stopped on an upgrade,
do not hold the vehicle sta-
tionary with engine power.
Use the service brake or the
parking brake.
• Do not shift from N (Neutral)
or P (Park) into D (Drive), or R
(Reverse) when the engine is
above idle speed.
