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* Option/accessory, for more information, see Introduction.31
Seat belts – pregnancy
The seat belt should always be worn during pregnancy. However, it is crucial that it beworn correctly.
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The diagonal section should wrap over the shoulder then be routed between the breastsand to the side of the belly. The lap sectionshould lay flat over the thighs and as low aspossible under the belly. It must never beallowed to ride upward. Remove all slackfrom the belt and ensure that it fits close tothe body without any twists. As a pregnancy progresses, pregnant drivers should adjust their seats and steering wheelsuch that they can easily maintain control ofthe vehicle as they drive (which means theymust be able to easily operate the foot pedalsand steering wheel). Within this context, theyshould strive to position the seat with as large a distance as possible between their bellyand the steering wheel.
Related information
•
Seat belts – buckling/unbuckling (p. 29)
• Seat belt reminder (p. 30)
• Child restraints (p. 47)
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
As an enhancement to the three-point seat belts (p. 28), your Volvo is equipped with aSupplemental Restraint System (SRS).
Models with an analog instrument panel
Models with an digital instrument panel*
Volvo's SRS consists of seat belt pretension- ers, front airbags (p. 33), side impact air-
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Front airbags
The front airbags supplement the three-point seat belts (p. 28). For these airbags to providethe protection intended, seat belts must beworn at all times.
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The front airbag systemThe front airbag system includes gas genera- tors surrounded by the airbags, and decelera-tion sensors that activate the gas generators,causing the airbags to be inflated with nitro-gen gas.
Location of the passenger's side front airbagAs the movement of the seats' occupants compresses the airbags, some of the gas isexpelled at a controlled rate to provide bettercushioning. Both seat belt pretensioners alsodeploy, minimizing seat belt slack. The entireprocess, including inflation and deflation ofthe airbags, takes approximately one fifth of asecond. The location of the front airbags is indicated by SRS AIRBAG embossed on the steering
wheel pad and above the glove compartment,and by decals on both sun visors and on thefront and far right side of the dash. The driver's side front airbag is folded and located in the steering wheel hub. The passenger's side front airbag is folded behind a panel located above the glove com-partment.
WARNING
• The airbags in the vehicle are designed to be a SUPPLEMENT to–not areplacement for–the three-point seatbelts. For maximum protection, wearseat belts at all times. Be aware thatno system can prevent all possibleinjuries that may occur in an accident.
• Never drive with your hands on thesteering wheel pad/airbag housing.
• The front airbags are designed to helpprevent serious injury. Deploymentoccurs very quickly and with consider-able force. During normal deploymentand depending on variables such asseating position, one may experienceabrasions, bruises, swellings, or otherinjuries as a result from deployment ofone or both of the airbags.
• When installing any accessory equip-ment, make sure that the front airbagsystem is not damaged. Any interfer-ence in the system could cause mal-function.
Front airbag deployment
•
The front airbags are designed to deploy during certain frontal or front-angular col-lisions, impacts, or decelerations,depending on the crash severity, angle,speed and object impacted. The airbagsmay also deploy in certain non-frontal
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collisions where rapid deceleration occurs.
• The SRS (p. 31) sensors, which triggerthe front airbags, are designed to react toboth the impact of the collision and theinertial forces generated by it, and todetermine if the intensity of the collision issufficient for the seat belt pretensionersand/or airbags to be deployed.
However, not all frontal collisions activate the front airbags.
• If the collision involves a nonrigid object (e.g., a snow drift or bush), or a rigid,fixed object at a low speed, the front air-bags will not necessarily deploy.
• Front airbags do not normally deploy in aside impact collision, in a collision fromthe rear or in a rollover situation.
• The amount of damage to the bodyworkdoes not reliably indicate if the airbagsshould have deployed or not.
WARNING
If any of the airbags have deployed:
• Do not attempt to drive the vehicle. Have it towed to a qualified repairfacility.
• If necessary seek medical attentIon.
WARNING
•Do not use child safety seats or child booster cushions/backrests in thefront passenger's seat. We also rec-ommend that occupants under 4 feet7 inches (140 cm) in height who haveoutgrown these devices sit in the rear seat with the seat belt fastened 1
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• Never drive with the airbags deployed. The fact that they hang out can impairthe steering of your vehicle. Othersafety systems can also be damaged.
• The smoke and dust formed when theairbags are deployed can cause skinand eye irritation in the event of pro-longed exposure.
Should you have questions about any com- ponent in the SRS system, please contact atrained and qualified Volvo service technicianor Volvo customer support: In the USA Volvo Cars of North America, LLC Customer Care Center1 Volvo DriveP.O. Box 914Rockleigh, New Jersey 076471-800-458-1552 www.volvocars.com/us In Canada Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. National Customer Service9130 Leslie Street, Suite 101Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 0B91-800-663-8255www.volvocars.com/ca
1
See also the Occupant Weight Sensor information, (p. 36).
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NOTE
•Deployment of front airbags occurs only one time during an accident. In acollision where deployment occurs,the airbags and seat belt pretensionersactivate. Some noise occurs and asmall amount of powder is released.The release of the powder may appearas smoke-like matter. This is a normalcharacteristic and does not indicatefire.
• Volvo's front airbags use special sen-sors that are integrated with the frontseat buckles. The point at which theairbag deploys is determined bywhether or not the seat belt is beingused, as well as the severity of the col-lision.
• Collisions can occur where only one ofthe airbags deploys. If the impact isless severe, but severe enough topresent a clear injury risk, the airbagsare triggered at partial capacity. If theimpact is more severe, the airbags aretriggered at full capacity.
Airbag decals
Airbag decal on the outside of both sun visors
Passenger's side airbag decal
WARNING
•Children must never be allowed in the front passenger's seat.
• Occupants in the front passenger'sseat must never sit on the edge of theseat, sit leaning toward the instrumentpanel or otherwise sit out of position.
• The occupant's back must be asupright as comfort allows and beagainst the seat back with the seatbelt properly fastened.
• Feet must be on the floor, e.g., not onthe dash, seat or out of the window.
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WARNING
•No objects or accessory equipment, e.g. dashboard covers, may be placedon, attached to, or installed near theair bag hatch (the area above the glovecompartment) or the area affected byairbag deployment.
• There should be no loose articles,such as coffee cups on the floor, seat,or dashboard area.
• Never try to open the airbag cover onthe steering wheel or the passenger'sside dashboard. This should only bedone by a trained and qualified Volvoservice technician.
• Failure to follow these instructions canresult in injury to the vehicle occu-pants.
Related information
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Occupant Weight Sensor (p. 36)
• Side impact protection (SIPS) airbags (p. 39)
• Inflatable Curtain (IC) (p. 41)
• Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)(p. 31)
Occupant Weight Sensor
The Occupant Weight Sensor (OWS) is designed to meet the regulatory requirementsof Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard(FMVSS) 208 and is designed to disable (willnot inflate) the passenger's side front airbagunder certain conditions.
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Occupant Weight Sensor (OWS) indicator light
Disabling the passenger's side front
airbag
Volvo recommends that ALL occupants (adults and children) shorter than 4 feet7 inches (140 cm) be seated in the back seatof any vehicle with a front passenger side air-bag (p. 33), and be properly restrained fortheir size and weight. For child safety recom-mendations, see Child safety (p. 46). The OWS works with sensors that are part of the front passenger's seat and seatbelt (p. 28). The sensors are designed to detect the presence of a properly seatedoccupant and determine if the passenger'sside front airbag should be enabled (mayinflate) or disabled (will not inflate). The OWS will disable (will not inflate) the pas- senger's side front airbag when:
• the front passenger's seat is unoccupied, or has small/medium objects in the frontseat,
• the system determines that an infant ispresent in a rear-facing infant seat that isinstalled according to the manufacturer'sinstructions,
• the system determines that a small childis present in a forward-facing childrestraint that is installed according to themanufacturer's instructions,
• the system determines that a small childis present in a booster seat,
• a front passenger takes his/her weight offof the seat for a period of time,
• a child or a small person occupies thefront passenger's seat.
The OWS uses a PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF indicator lamp which will illuminate and stayon to remind you that the passenger's sidefront airbag is disabled. The PASSENGERAIRBAG OFF indicator lamp is located in theoverhead console, near the base of the rear-view mirror.
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If a person of adult size is sitting in the front passenger's seat, but the PASSENGER AIR-BAG OFF indicator lamp is on, it is possiblethat the person isn't sitting properly in theseat. If this happens:• Turn the vehicle off and ask the person to place the seatback in an upright position.
• Have the person sit upright in the seat,centered on the seat cushion, with theperson's legs comfortably extended.
• Restart the vehicle and have the personremain in this position for about twominutes. This will allow the system todetect that person and enable the pas-senger's frontal airbag.
• If the PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF indica-tor lamp remains on even after this, theperson should be advised to ride in therear seat.
This condition reflects limitations of the OWS classification capability. It does not indicateOWS malfunction.
ModificationsIf you are considering modifying your vehiclein any way to accommodate a disability, forexample by altering or adapting the driver'sor front passenger's seat(s) and/or airbagsystems, please contact Volvo at: In the USA Volvo Cars of North America, LLC Customer Care Center 1 Volvo DriveP.O. Box 914Rockleigh, New Jersey 076471-800-458-1552 In Canada Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. National Customer Service9130 Leslie Street, Suite 101Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 0B91-800-663-8255
WARNING
•
No objects that add to the total weight on the seat should be placed on thefront passenger's seat. If a child isseated in the front passenger's seatwith any additional weight, this extraweight could cause the OWS systemto enable the airbag, which mightcause it to deploy in the event of a col-lision, thereby injuring the child.
• The seat belt should never be wrappedaround an object on the front pas-senger's seat. This could interfere withthe OWS system's function.
• The front passenger's seat belt shouldnever be used in a way that exertsmore pressure on the passenger thannormal. This could increase the pres-sure exerted on the weight sensor by achild, and could result in the airbagbeing enabled, which might cause it todeploy in the event of a collision,thereby injuring the child.
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WARNING
•Keep the following points in mind with respect to the OWS system. Failure tofollow these instructions couldadversely affect the system's functionand result in serious injury to the occu-pant of the front passenger's seat:
• The full weight of the front seat pas-senger should always be on the seatcushion. The passenger should neverlift him/herself off the seat cushionusing the armrest in the door or thecenter console, by pressing the feet onthe floor, by sitting on the edge of theseat cushion, or by pressing againstthe backrest in a way that reducespressure on the seat cushion. Thiscould cause OWS to disable the front,passenger's side airbag.
WARNING
•
Do not place any type of object on the front passenger's seat in such a waythat jamming, pressing, or squeezingoccurs between the object and thefront seat, other than as a direct resultof the correct use of the AutomaticLocking Retractor/Emergency LockingRetractor (ALR/ELR) seat belt (Childrestraints (p. 47)).
• No objects should be placed under thefront passenger's seat. This couldinterfere with the OWS system's func-tion.
Related information
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Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) (p. 31)
Side impact protection (SIPS) airbags
As an enhancement to the structural side impact protection built into your vehicle, it isalso equipped with Side Impact ProtectionSystem (SIPS) airbags.
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Location of the side impact (SIPS) airbags (front seats only) The SIPS airbag system is designed to help increase occupant protection in the event ofcertain side impact collisions. The SIPS air-bags are designed to deploy only during cer-tain side-impact collisions, depending on thecrash severity, angle, speed and point ofimpact.
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Driver's side SIPS airbag
Passenger's side SIPS airbag
NOTE
SIPS airbag deployment (one airbag) occurs only on the side of the vehicleaffected by the impact. The airbags are notdesigned to deploy in all side impact situa-tions.
Components in the SIPS airbag systemThis SIPS airbag system consists of a gas generator, the side airbag modules built intothe outboard sides of both front seat back-rests, and electronic sensors/wiring.WARNING
•The SIPS airbag system is a supple- ment to the structural Side ImpactProtection System and the three-pointseat belt system. It is not designed todeploy during collisions from the frontor rear of the vehicle or in rollover sit-uations.
• The use of seat covers on the frontseats may impede SIPS airbag deploy-ment.
• No objects, accessory equipment orstickers may be placed on, attached toor installed near the SIPS airbag sys-tem or in the area affected by SIPS air-bag deployment.
• Never try to open or repair any compo-nents of the SIPS airbag system. Thisshould be done only by a trained andqualified Volvo service technician.
• In order for the SIPS airbag to provideits best protection, both front seatoccupants should sit in an uprightposition with the seat belt properly fas-tened.
• Failure to follow these instructions canresult in injury to the occupants of thevehicle in the event of an accident.