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 t urned 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 restra ints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat. Fo r a listing of the child re
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 132.
The PAS SENG ER AIR BAG OFF light in the in
strument panel tells you when the front Ad
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control u nit.
Each t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PAS
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight w ill 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
¢ page 119, 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 passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-old
chi ld but less than the weight of a small
ad ult, the front airbag on the passenge r side
can dep loy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come o n). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
l ight does not come on, the
front airbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the electronic control unit
and can dep loy if the control unit senses an
impact that meets the conditions stored in its
memory.
For e xample , the airbag may deploy if :
Airbag system 11 1
- a small child that is heav ie r th an a typical 1
year -old chi ld is o n the front passenger seat
(regard less o f whether the child is in one o f
the child safety seats listed ¢
page 132), or
- a child who has outgrown child 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 instr ument pane l and stays on.
T he front airbag on the passenge r side may
not deploy (t he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illuminate a nd stay lit) even if a
small ad ult or teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitting upright with their back against a
non-recl ined backrest w ith their feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the seat is on the front
passenger seat ¢
page 93, Proper seating po
sition for the driver.
If the front passenger airbag dep loys, the
Federa l Standard requ ires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" dep loyment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury th rough interact ion w ith the
airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that ta ke place at lower dece le rat io ns
as de fined in the e lectronic co ntrol unit
¢ page 1 20, PASSENG ER AIR BAG O FF light.
Always remember, a c hild safety seat or infant
ca rr ier installed on the front seat may be
stru ck and kno cked out of po sit io n by the rap
idly in flat ing passenger 's airbag in a fronta l
collision. The ai rbag co uld great ly red uce the
effectiveness of the chi ld restraint and even
seriously in jure the child during inflation.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be ser ious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag inflates - even with an Ad
van ced A irbag System.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild
safety seat or infant carrie r with great
for ce and will smas h the child safety seat
a nd child ag ain st the ba ckrest, door o r
roof.
•
•
114 Airbag sys te m
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was manufactured .
The front Advanced Airbag Sys tem supp le
ments the safety belts to provide additional
protection for the driver's and front passeng
er 's heads and upper bodies in fronta l crashes.
The airbags inflate only in fronta l impacts
when the vehicle dece lerat ion is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the
front seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts. Rather, it is part of the over all occupant restraint system in your veh icle.
A lways remember that the airbag system ca n
only help to protect you, if you are s itting up
right, wearing yo ur safety belt and wea ring it
p roperly. This is why you and you r passenge rs
must always be properly restr ained , not just
beca use the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been cer tified to meet the " low r is k " re
qu iremen ts for
3 an d 6 year-o ld childre n on
the passenger side and very small adu lts on
the driver side. The low risk deploymen t crite
ria are intended to he lp red uce the risk of in
jury through interaction with the front airbag that can occur, for example, by be ing too
close to the steer ing whee l and instrument
panel when the airbag i nflates .
In addition, the system has been certif ied to
comp ly w ith the "suppression" requ irements
of the Safety Standard, to tur n off the front
a irbag for infants
12 months old and younger
who a re restra ined on the front passenger
seat in c hild restra ints that a re listed in the
St anda rd ¢
page 132, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the passenger side to be turned off if :
- a ch ild up to about one year of age is re
stra ined on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-facing or forwa rd-fac ing infa nt
rest raints listed in Federa l Motor Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 wit h whi ch the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle w as
certified . For a list ing of the child rest rain ts t
ha t were used to certify your vehicle 's com
pliance with the US Safety Standa rd
¢ page 132,
-weight less than a thres ho ld level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas
senger seat.
When a person is dete cted on the front pas
senger seat, weighing more than the tota l
weight of a chi ld that is about
1 year old re
stra ined in one of the rear-facing or forward
facing infant restraints ( listed in Federal Mo
tor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w it h which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was ce rtified), the front airbag on the passen
ger side may or may not deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the electro nic con trol unit detects a to
ta l we ight on the front passenger seat that re
quires t he front airbag to be tu rned off. If t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t does no t
come o n, the fron t airbag on the passenger
s ide has not been turne d off by the cont ro l
u nit and can dep loy if the control unit senses
an impact that meets the conditions stored in
its memory.
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typica l
1 year-old,
but less than the we ight of a small ad ult, the
front a irbag on the passenger side may dep loy
(the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on).
For example , the airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier t han a typic al 1
yea r-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whethe r the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed
¢ page 132),
-a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on the front passenge r seat .
If the fron t passenger a irbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t in the cen ter
of the ins trument panel will come on and stay
o n.
T he front airbag on the passenge r sid e may
not dep loy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not illuminate a nd stay lit) i f: