2015 MAZDA MODEL 3 HATCHBACK Owners Manual (in English)

2–17
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
Seat Belt
Fastening the Seat Belt
Seat belt
buckleSeat belt tongue
Position the lap belt as low as possible,
not on the abdominal area, then adjust the
shoulder belt so that it fi ts snugly against
your body.
Keep low on
hip bone
Too highTake up slack
Unfastening the Seat Belt
Depress the button on the seat belt buckle.
If the belt does not fully retract, pull it out
and check for kinks or twists. Then make
sure it remains untwisted as it retracts.
Button
NOTE
If a belt does not fully retract, inspect
it for kinks and twists. If it is still not
retracting properly, have it inspected at
an expert repairer, we recommend an
Authorised Mazda Repairer.
Front Shoulder Belt Adjuster
To raise To lower
Make sure the adjuster is locked.
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2–18
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
Seat Belt Warning Systems
If it detects that the occupant seat belt
is unfastened, the warning light or beep
alerts the occupant.
Refer to Warning/Indicator Lights on page
4-40 .
Refer to Seat Belt Warning Beep on page
7-50 .
Front Seat Belt
Pretensioner and Load
Limiting Systems
For optimum protection, the driver and
front passenger seat belts are equipped
with pretensioner and load limiting
systems. For both these systems to work
properly you must wear the seat belt
properly.
Pretensioners:
When a collision is detected, the
pretensioners deploy simultaneously with
the air bags.
For deployment details, refer to the SRS
Air Bag Deployment Criteria (page 2-52 ).
The seat belt retractors remove slack
quickly as the air bags are expanding.
Any time the air bags and seat belt
pretensioners have fi red they must be
replaced.
A system malfunction or operation
conditions are indicated by a warning.
Refer to Warning/Indicator Lights on page
4-40 .
Refer to Air Bag/Seat Belt Pretensioner
System Warning Beep on page 7-49 .
(With front passenger air bag
deactivation switch)
In addition, the pretensioner system for
the front passenger, like the front and side
passenger air bag, is designed to only
deploy when the front passenger air bag
deactivation switch is turned to the ON
position.
For details, refer to front passenger air bag
deactivation switch (page 2-44 ).
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2–19
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
Load limiter:
The load limiting system releases belt
webbing in a controlled manner to reduce
belt force on the occupant's chest. While
the most severe load on a seat belt occurs
in frontal collisions, the load limiter has
an automatic mechanical function and
can activate in any accident mode with
suffi cient occupant movement.
Even if the pretensioners have not fi red,
the load limiting function must be checked
by an expert repairer, we recommend an
Authorised Mazda Repairer.
WARNING
Wear seat belts only as recommended
in this owner's manual:
Incorrect positioning of the seat belts is
dangerous. Without proper positioning,
the pretensioner and load limiting
systems cannot provide adequate
protection in an accident and this
could result in serious injury. For more
details about wearing seat belts, refer to
"Fastening the seat belts" (page 2-17 ).
Have your seat belts changed
immediately if the pretensioner or load
limiter has been expended:
Always have an expert repairer, we
recommend an Authorised Mazda
Repairer immediately inspect the
seat belt pretensioners and air bags
after any collision. Like the air bags,
the seat belt pretensioners and load
limiters will only function once and
must be replaced after any collision
that caused them to deploy. If the seat
belt pretensioners and load limiters
are not replaced, the risk of injury in a
collision will increase.
WARNING
Do not modify the components or
wiring, or use electronic testing devices
on the pretensioner system:
Modifying the components or wiring
of the pretensioner system, including
the use of electronic testing devices
is dangerous. You could accidentally
activate it or make it inoperable which
would prevent it from activating in an
accident. The occupants or repairers
could be seriously injured.
Properly dispose of the pretensioner
system:
Improper disposal of the pretensioner
system or a vehicle with non-
deactivated pretensioners is dangerous.
Unless all safety procedures are
followed, injury could result. Have
an expert repairer, we recommend an
Authorised Mazda Repairer safely
dispose of the pretensioner system or
scrap a pretensioner system equipped
vehicle.
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*Some models.2–20
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
NOTE

 The pretensioner system may not
operate depending on the type of
the collision. For details, refer to the
SRS Air Bag Deployment Criteria
(page 2-52 ).
  Some smoke (non-toxic gas) will
be released when the air bags and
pretensioners deploy. This does not
indicate a fi re. This gas normally has
no effect on occupants, however,
those with sensitive skin may
experience light skin irritation. If
residue from the deployment of the
air bags or the pretensioner system
gets on the skin or in the eyes, wash
it off as soon as possible.
Centre-Rear Position Seat
Belt
*
Fastening the Seat Belt
1. Pull the seat belt tongue to the desired
length.
2. Insert it into the seat belt buckle until
you hear a click sound.
Seat belt tongue
Seat belt
buckle
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2–21
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
3. Adjust the belt length.
To lengthen the belt, hold the seat belt
tongue at a right angle to the webbing
and pull. To shorten, pull the loose end
of the webbing.
Lengthen
Shorten

4. Make sure the lap belt is snugly fi tted
against your body.
WARNING
Wearing the Lap Belt:
A lap belt worn too high is dangerous.
In a collision, this would concentrate
the impact force directly on the
abdominal area, causing serious injury.
Wear the lap belt snugly and as low as
possible.
Unfastening the Seat Belt
Depress the button on the seat belt buckle.
Button
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2–22
Essential Safety Equipment
Child Restraint
Child Restraint Precautions
Mazda strongly urges the use of child-restraint systems for children small enough to use
them.
Mazda recommends use of a Mazda genuine child-restraint system or one that complies with
the UNECE
*1 44 regulation. If you would like to purchase a Mazda genuine child-restraint
system, please contact an Authorised Mazda Dealer.
Check your local and state or provincial laws for specifi c requirements regarding the safety
of children riding in your vehicle.
*1 UNECE stands for United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Whatever child-restraint system you consider, please pick the appropriate one for the age
and size of the child, obey the law and follow the instructions that come with the individual
child-restraint system.
A child who has outgrown child-restraint systems should sit in the rear and use seat belts.
The child-restraint system should be installed on the rear seat.
Statistics confi rm that the rear seat is the best place for all children up to 12 years of age-the
more so with a supplementary restraint system (air bags).
A rear-facing child-restraint system should NEVER be used in the front passenger seat with
the air bag system activated. The front passenger's seat is also the least preferred seat for
other child-restraint systems.
For some models, we have provided a deactivation switch that will disable front passenger
air bag infl ation. Do not switch off the front passenger air bag without reading the “Front
Passenger Air Bag Deactivation Switch” (page 2-44 ).
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2–23
Essential Safety Equipment
Child Restraint
WARNING
Use the correct size child-restraint system:
For effective protection in vehicle accidents and sudden stops, a child must be properly
restrained using a seat belt or child-restraint system depending on age and size. If not,
the child could be seriously injured or even killed in an accident.
Follow the manufacturer's instructions and always keep the child-restraint system
buckled down:
An unsecured child-restraint system is dangerous. In a sudden stop or a collision it
could move causing serious injury or death to the child or other occupants. Make sure
any child-restraint system is properly secured in place according to the child-restraint
system manufacturer's instructions. When not in use, remove it from the vehicle or
fasten it with a seat belt, or latch it down to BOTH ISOFIX anchors, and attach the
corresponding tether anchor.
Always secure a child in a proper child-restraint system:
Holding a child in your arms while the vehicle is moving is extremely dangerous. No
matter how strong the person may be, he or she cannot hold onto a child in a sudden
stop or collision and it could result in serious injury or death to the child or other
occupants. Even in a moderate accident, the child may be exposed to air bag forces that
could result in serious injury or death to the child, or the child may be slammed into an
adult, causing injury to both child and adult.
Extreme Hazard! Never use a rear-facing child-restraint system on the front passenger
seat with an air bag that could deploy:
NEVER use a rearward facing child restraint on a seat protected by an ACTIVE
AIRBAG in front of it, DEATH or SERIOUS INJURY to the CHILD can occur.
Vehicles with a front passenger air bag have a warning label attached as shown below.
The warning label reminds you not to put a rear-facing child-restraint system on the
front passenger seat at any time.
(Except Taiwan) (Taiwan)
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2–24
Essential Safety Equipment
Child Restraint
WARNING
Even in a moderate collision, the child-restraint system can be hit by a deploying air
bag and moved violently backward resulting in serious injury or death to the child. If
your vehicle is equipped with a front passenger air bag deactivation switch, always set
the switch to the OFF position when installing a rear-facing child-restraint system on
the front passenger seat.
Do not install a front-facing child-restraint system on the front passenger seat unless it
is unavoidable:
In a collision, the force of a deploying air bag could cause serious injury or death to the
child. If installing a front-facing child-restraint system on the front passenger seat is
unavoidable, move the front passenger seat as far back as possible and make sure that
the front passenger air bag deactivation switch is in the OFF position. Refer to Front
Passenger Air Bag Deactivation Switch (page 2-44 ).
Do not allow a child or anyone to lean over or against the side window of a vehicle with
side and curtain air bags:
It is dangerous to allow anyone to lean over or against the side window, the area of the
front passenger seat, the front and rear window pillars and the roof edge along both
sides from which the side and curtain air bags deploy, even if a child-restraint system
is used. The impact of infl ation from a side or curtain air bag could cause serious
injury or death to an out of position child. Furthermore, leaning over or against the
front door could block the side and curtain air bags and eliminate the advantages of
supplementary protection. With the front air bag and the additional side air bag that
comes out of the front seat, the rear seat is always a better location for children. Take
special care not to allow a child to lean over or against the side window, even if the
child is seated in a child-restraint system.
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