Airbag system
The Standard requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("suppressed") if
a child up to about one year of age restrained in
one of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant re
straints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle was certified has been in
stalled on the front passenger seat. For a listing
of the child restraints that were used to certify
comp liance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 124.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instru
men t panel tells you when the front Advanced
A irbag on the passenger side has been turned off
by the electronic control unit.
Each time you turn on the ignition, the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill come on for a few
seconds and:
- will stay o n if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if there is a small child or ch ild re
stra int on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu
pied by an adult as registered by the weight
sensing mat¢
page 112, Monitoring the Ad
vanced 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
a ir bag to be turned off.
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typical 1 year-old child but
less than the we ight of a small adult, the front
a ir bag on the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come
on) . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passenger
side has not been turned off by the e lectronic
contro l unit and can deploy if the control unit
senses an impact that meets the conditions stor
ed in its memory.
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat (re-
104
gardless of whether the child is in one o f the
child safety seats listed¢
page 124), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger ai rbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
instrument panel and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not illuminate and stay lit) even if a smal l adult
o r teenager, or a passenger who is not sitting up
right with their back against a non-reclined back
rest with their feet on the vehicle floor in front of
the seat is on the front passenger seat
¢ page 87, Proper seating position for the driver.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federal
Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to reduce the risk of in
ju ry through interaction with the a irbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in those crashes that
take place at lower decelerations as defined in
the electronic control un it
¢page 112, PASSEN
G£R AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carr ier installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rapidly inflat
in g passenge r's airbag in a frontal collision . The
a irbag could greatly reduce the effec tiveness of
the child res traint and even seriously injure the
child during inflation.
_&. WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the front
a ir bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the ch ild safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst the backrest, door or roof.
- Never install a rearward facing child safety
seat on the front passenger seat unless the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
