33
Safety features of your vehicle
WARNING- Driver’s seat Never attempt to adjust the seatwhile the vehicle is moving. This
could result in loss of control, and
an accident causing death, seri-
ous injury, or property damage.
Do not allow anything to interfere with the normal position of the
seatback. Storing items against a
seatback or in any other way
interfering with proper locking of
a seatback could result in serious
or fatal injury in a sudden stop or
collision.
seatback upright and the lap por-
tion of the seat belt snug and low
across the hips. This is the best
position to protect you in case of
an accident.
In order to avoid unnecessary and perhaps severe air bag
injuries, always sit as far back as
possible from the steering wheel
while maintaining comfortable
control of the vehicle. It is recom-
mended that your chest is at least
250 mm (10 inches) away from
the steering wheel.
WARNING - Uprighting
seat
When you return the seatback to its
upright position, hold the seatback
and return it slowly and be sure
there are no other occupants
around the seat. If the seatback is
returned without being held and
controlled, the back of the seat
could spring forward resulting in
accidental injury to a person struck
by the seatback.
WARNING- Loose objects
Loose objects in the driver’s foot
area could interfere with the opera-
tion of the foot pedals, possibly
causing an accident. Do not place
anything under the front seats.
WARNING- Driver respon-
sibility for front seat pas-
senger
Riding in a vehicle with a front seat-
back reclined could lead to serious
or fatal injury in an accident. If a
front seat is reclined during an
accident, the occupant’s hips may
slide under the lap portion of the
seat belt applying great force to the
unprotected abdomen. The
Protection of your restraint system
(seat belt and air bags) is greatly
reduced by reclining your seat.
Serious or fatal internal injuries
could result. The driver must advise
the front passenger to keep the
seatback in an upright position
whenever the vehicle is in motion.
35
Safety features of your vehicle
C010103APB
Seat height (for driver’s seat) (if equipped)
To change the height of the seat, move
the lever upwards or downwards.
• To lower the seat cushion, push down the lever several times.
To raise the seat cushion, pull up the lever several times.
C010104BPB
Headrest
The driver's and front passenger's seats
are equipped with a headrest for the
occupant's safety and comfort.
The headrest not only provides comfort
for the driver and front passenger, but
also helps protect the head and neck in
the event of a collision.
WARNING
For maximum effectiveness incase of an accident, the headrest
should be adjusted so the middle
of the headrest is at the same
height of the center of gravity of
an occupant's head. Generally,
the center of gravity of most peo-
ple's head is similar with the
height of the top of their eyes.
Also, adjust the headrest as close
to your head as possible. For this
reason, the use of a cushion that
holds the body away from the
seatback is not recommended.
Do not operate the vehicle with the headrests removed as severe
injury to the occupants may
occur in the event of an accident.
Headrests may provide protec-
tion against neck injuries when
properly adjusted.
Do not adjust the headrest height while the vehicle is in motion.
OMG038400OTD039004
313
Safety features of your vehicle
C010303APB
Headrest (if equipped)
■4 door, 2 door vehicle
The rear seat(s) is equipped with head-
rests in the outboard seating positions for
the occupant's safety and comfort.
■ 5 door vehicle
The rear seat is equipped with headrests
in all the seating positions for the occu-
pant's safety and comfort.
The headrest not only provides comfort
for passengers, but also helps protect the
head and neck in the event of a collision.
WARNING
For maximum effectiveness in case of an accident, the headrest
should be adjusted so the middle
of the headrest is at the same
height of the center of gravity of
an occupant's head. Generally,
the center of gravity of most peo-
ple's head is similar with the
height of the top of their eyes.
Also adjust the headrest as close
to your head as possible. For this
reason, the use of a cushion that
holds the body away from the
seatback is not recommended.
Do not operate the vehicle with the headrests removed as severe
injury to an occupant may occur
in the event of an accident.
Headrests may provide protec-
tion against severe neck injuries
when properly adjusted.
WARNING- Cargo
Cargo should always be secured to
prevent it from being thrown about
the vehicle in a collision and caus-
ing injury to the vehicle occupants.
Do not place objects in the rear
seats, since they cannot be proper-
ly secured and may hit the front
seat occupants in a frontal colli-
sion.
WARNING - Cargo loading
Make sure the engine is off, the
automatic transaxle is in P (Park)
or the manual transaxle is in
Reverse or 1st, and the parking
brake is securely applied whenever
loading or unloading cargo. Failure
to take these steps may allow the
vehicle to move if the shift lever is
inadvertently moved to another
position.
315
Safety features of your vehicle
C020100AHM
Seat belt restraint system
SEAT BELTS
WARNING
For maximum restraint systemprotection, the seat belts must
always be used whenever the
vehicle is moving.
Seat belts are most effective when seatbacks are in the
upright position.
Children age 12 and under must always be properly restrained in
the rear seat. Never allow chil-
dren to ride in the front passen-
ger seat. If a child over 12 must
be seated in the front seat, he/she
must be properly belted and the
seat should be moved as far back
as possible.
Never wear the shoulder belt under your arm or behind your
back. An improperly positioned
shoulder belt can cause serious
injuries in a crash. The shoulder
belt should be positioned midway
over your shoulder across your
collarbone.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Avoid wearing twisted seat belts.A twisted belt can't do its job as
well. In a collision, it could even
cut into you. Be sure the belt
webbing is straight and not twist-
ed.
Be careful not to damage the belt webbing or hardware. If the belt
webbing or hardware is dam-
aged, replace it.WARNING
Seat belts are designed to bear
upon the bony structure of the
body, and should be worn low
across the front of the pelvis or the
pelvis, chest and shoulders, as
applicable; wearing the lap section
of the belt across the abdominal
area must be avoided.
Seat belts should be adjusted as
firmly as possible, consistent with
comfort, to provide the protection
for which they have been designed.
A slack belt will greatly reduce the
protection afforded to the wearer.
Care should be taken to avoid con-
tamination of the webbing with pol-
ishes, oils and chemicals, and par-
ticularly battery acid. Cleaning may
safely be carried out using mild
soap and water. The belt should be
replaced if webbing becomes
frayed, contaminated or damaged.
(Continued)
317
Safety features of your vehicle
C020102ATD-EU
Seat belt - Driver's 3-point systemwith emergency locking retractor
To fasten your seat belt:
To fasten your seat belt, pull it out of the
retractor and insert the metal tab (1) into
the buckle (2). There will be an audible
"click" when the tab locks into the buckle.
The seat belt automatically adjusts to the
proper length only after the lap belt por-
tion is adjusted manually so that it fits
snugly around your hips. If you lean for-
ward in a slow, easy motion, the belt will
extend and let you move around. If there
is a sudden stop or impact, however, the
belt will lock into position. It will also lock
if you try to lean forward too quickly.
✽ ✽ NOTICE
If you are not able to pull out the seat
belt from the retractor, firmly pull the
belt out and release it. Then you will be
able to pull the belt out smoothly.
Height adjustment (if equipped)
You can adjust the height of the shoulder
belt anchor to one of the 4 positions for
maximum comfort and safety.
The height of the adjusting seat belt
should not be too close to your neck. The
shoulder portion should be adjusted so
that it lies across your chest and midway
over your shoulder near the door and not
your neck.
To adjust the height of the seat belt
anchor, lower or raise the height adjuster
into an appropriate position.
B180A01NF
1
2
OMG035038
337
Safety features of your vehicle
C040902APB
Noise and smoke
When the air bags inflate, they make a
loud noise and they leave smoke and
powder in the air inside of the vehicle.
This is normal and is a result of the igni-
tion of the air bag inflator. After the air
bag inflates, you may feel substantial dis-
comfort in breathing due to the contact of
your chest to both the seat belt and the
air bag, as well as from breathing the
smoke and powder.Open your doors
and/or windows as soon as possible
after the impact in order to reduce dis-
comfort and prevent prolonged expo-
sure to smoke and powder.
Though smoke and powder are non-
toxic, it may cause irritation to the skin
(eyes, nose and throat etc). If this is the
case, wash and rinse with the cold water
immediately and consult the doctor if the
symptom persists.
C040903AUN
Installing a child restraint on a front passenger’s seat is forbidden
Never place a rear-facing child restraint
in the front passenger’s seat. If the air
bag deploys, it would impact the rear-fac-
ing child restraint, causing serious or
fatal injury.
In addition, do not place front-facing child
restraint in the front passenger’s seat
either. If the front passenger air bag
inflates, it would cause serious or fatal
injuries to the child.
1JBH3051
WARNING
When the air bags deploy, the air
bag related parts in the steering
wheel and/or instrument panel
and/or in both sides of the roof rails
above the front and rear doors are
very hot. To prevent injury, do not
touch the air bag storage area’s
internal components immediately
after an air bag has inflated.
Safety features of your vehicle
42
3
Main components of occupant detec-
tion system
A detection device located within the front passenger seat track.
Electronic system to determine whether passenger air bag systems
should be activated or deactivated.
A indicator light located on the instru- ment panel which illuminates the
words PASSENGER AIR BAG “OFF”
indicating the front passenger air bag
system is deactivated.
The instrument panel air bag warning light is interconnected with the occu-
pant detection system. If the front passenger seat is occupied by
a person that the system determines to
be of adult size, and he/she sits properly
(sitting upright with the seatback in an
upright position, centered on the seat
cushion with their seat belt on, legs com-
fortably extended and their feet on the
floor), the PASSENGER AIR BAG “OFF”
indicator will turn off and the front pas-
senger's air bag will be able to inflate, if
necessary, in frontal crashes.
You will find the PASSENGER AIR BAG
“OFF” indicator on the center facia panel.
This system detects the conditions 1~4
in the following table and activates or
deactivates the front passenger air bag
based on these conditions. Always be sure that you and all vehicle
occupants are seated and restrained
properly (sitting upright with the seat in
an upright position, centered on the seat
cushion, with the person’s legs comfort-
ably extended, feet on the floor, and
wearing the safety belt properly) for the
most effective protection by the air bag
and the safety belt.
The ODS (Occupant Detection System)
may not function properly if the passen-
ger takes actions which can defeat the
detection system. These include:
(1) Failing to sit in an upright position.
(2) Leaning against the door or center console.
(3) Sitting towards the sides or the front of the seat.
(4) Putting legs on the dashboard or rest- ing them on other locations which
reduce the passenger weight on the
front seat.
(5) Improperly wearing the safety belt.
(6) Reclining the seat back.
345
Safety features of your vehicle
When an adult is seated in the front pas-
senger seat, if the PASSENGER AIR
BAG “OFF” indicator is on, turn the igni-
tion switch to the LOCK position and ask
the passenger to sit properly (sitting
upright with the seat back in an upright
position, centered on the seat cushion
with their seat belt on, legs comfortably
extended and their feet on the floor).
Restart the engine and have the person
remain in that position. This will allow the
system to detect the person and to
enable the passenger air bag.If the PASSENGER AIR BAG “OFF” indi-
cator is still on, ask the passenger to
move to the rear seat.
✽ ✽
NOTICE
The PASSENGER AIR BAG “OFF”
indicator illuminates for about 4 sec-
onds after the ignition switch is turned
to the ON position or after the engine is
started. If the front passenger seat is
occupied, the occupant detection sensor
will then classify the front passenger
after several more seconds.
B990A01O
WARNING
Do not allow an adult passenger to
ride in the front seat when the PAS-
SENGER AIR BAG “OFF” indicator
is illuminated, because the air bag
will not deploy in the event of a
crash. If the PASSENGER AIR BAG
“OFF” indicator remains illuminat-
ed after the passenger repositions
themselves properly and the car is
restarted, it is recommended that
passenger move to the rear seat
because the passenger's front air
bag will not deploy.
Front seat passengers must stay
properly seated to avoid serious
injury from a deploying air bag.
WARNING
Do not put a heavy load in the front
passenger seat. Do not place any
items under the front passenger
seat. Any of these could interfere
with proper sensor operation.