A seat belt that is buckled into the
wrong buckle will not protect you properly.
The lap portion could ride too high on your
body, possibly causing internal injuries.
Always buckle your seat belt into the
buckle nearest you.
A seat belt that is too loose will not
protect you properly. In a sudden stop, you
could move too far forward, increasing the
possibility of injury. Wear your seat belt
snugly.
A seat belt that is worn under your arm
is dangerous. Your body could strike the
inside surfaces of the vehicle in a collision,
increasing head and neck injury. A seat belt
worn under the arm can cause internal
injuries. Ribs aren’t as strong as shoulder
bones. Wear the seat belt over your
shoulder so that your strongest bones will
take the force in a collision.
A shoulder belt placed behind you will
not protect you from injury during a
collision. You are more likely to hit your
head in a collision if you do not wear your
shoulder belt. The lap and shoulder belt are
meant to be used together.
A frayed or torn seat belt could rip apart
in a collision and leave you with no
protection. Inspect the seat belt system
periodically, checking for cuts, frays, or
loose parts. Damaged parts must be
replaced immediately. Do not disassemble
or modify the seat belt system. Seat belt
assemblies must be replaced after a
collision. Seat Belts And Pregnant
Women
Pregnant Women And Persons With
Serious Medical Conditions
Pregnant women should always wear
seat belts. Ask your doctor for specific
recommendations.
The lap belt should be worn SNUGLY
AND AS LOW AS POSSIBLE OVER
THE HIPS. The shoulder belt should be
worn across your shoulder properly, but
never across the stomach area.
Persons with serious medical
conditions also should wear seat belts.
Check with your doctor for any special
instructions regarding specific medical
conditions. Emergency Locking
Mode
When the seat belt is fastened, it will
always be in the emergency locking
mode.
In the emergency locking mode, the
belt remains comfortable on the
occupant and the retractor will lock in
position during a collision.
If the belt is locked and cannot be
pulled out, retract the belt once, and
then try pulling it out slowly. If this fails,
pull the belt strongly one time and
loosen, then pull it out again slowly.
Seat Belt With Automatic Locking
Mode
When the seat belt is fastened, it will
always be in the emergency locking
mode until it is switched to automatic
locking mode by pulling it all the way
out to its full length.
If the belt feels tight and hinders
comfortable movement while the
vehicle is stopped or in motion, it may
be in the automatic locking mode
because the belt has been pulled too
far out.
To return the belt to the more
comfortable emergency locking mode,
wait until the vehicle has stopped in a
safe, level area, retract the belt fully to
convert it back to emergency locking
mode and then extend it around you
again. 06050100-CHD-003
Seat Belts And Pregnant Women
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SAFETY
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.
Note:
If a belt does not fully retract,
inspect it for kinks and twists. If it is still
not retracting properly, have it
inspected: contact an authorized
dealer.
Always wear the seat belt with it
correctly routed in its guide. Wearing a
seat belt without the seat belt routed in
its guide is dangerous because the
seat belt would not be able to provide
adequate protection in an accident,
which could result in serious injury. Seat Belt Warning
Systems
If it detects that the occupant seat belt
is unfastened, the warning light or beep
alerts the occupant.
Referto“WarningLightsAnd
Messages” in “Getting To Knowing Your
Instrument Panel” for further
information.
Refer to “Seat Belt Warning Light” in
“Getting To Knowing Your Instrument
Panel” for further information.
Seat Belt Extender
If your seat belt is not long enough,
even when fully extended, a seat belt
extender may be available to you at no
charge from authorized dealer.
This extender will be only for you and
for the particular vehicle and seat. Even
if it plugs into other seat belts, it may not hold in the critical moment of a
crash.
When ordering an extender, only order
one that provides the necessary
additional length to fasten the seat belt
properly. Please contact authorized
dealer for more information.
When not in use, remove the seat belt
extender and store it in the vehicle. If
the seat belt extender is left connected,
the seat belt extender might get
damaged as it will not retract with the
rest of the seat belt and can easily fall
out of the door when not in use and be
damaged.
In addition, the seat belt warning light
will not illuminate and function properly.
Warning! Do not use a seat belt extender unless it
is necessary. Using a seat belt extender
when not necessary is dangerous. The
seat belt will be too long and not fit
properly. In an accident, the seat belt will
not provide adequate protection and you
could be seriously injured. Only use the
extender when it is required to fasten the
seat belt properly.
Do not use an improper extender. Using
a seat belt extender that is for another
person or a different vehicle or seat is
dangerous. The seat belt will not provide
adequate protection and the user could be1 03020202UNF001
Latching/Unlatching The Seat Belt
1 — Seat Belt Release Button 1 0302020012A001
Seat Belt Routing Guides
1 — Shoulder Belt Routing Guides
126
SAFETY
seriously injured in an accident. Only use
the extender provided for you and for the
particular vehicle and seat.
NEVER use the extender in a different
vehicle or seat. If you sell your vehicle, do
not leave your seat belt extender in the
vehicle. It could be used accidentally by the
new owner of the vehicle. After removing
the seat belt extender, discard it. Never use
the seat belt extender in any other vehicle
you may own in the future.
Do not use an extender that is too long.
Using an extender that is too long is
dangerous. The seat belt will not fit
properly. In an accident, the seat belt will
not provide adequate protection and you
could be seriously injured. Do not use the
extender or choose one shorter in length if
the distance between the extender's
buckle and the center of the user's body is
less than 6 inches (15 cm).
Do not leave a seat belt extender
connected to the buckle. Leaving a seat
belt extender connected to the buckle
without using the seat belt is dangerous.
When the seat belt extender is connected
to the driver's seat belt buckle (or
passenger) seat, the SRS driver's (or
passenger's) air bag system will determine
that the driver (or passenger) is wearing the
seat belt even if the driver (or passenger) is
not wearing it. This condition could cause
the driver's (or passenger's) air bag to not
activate correctly and result in death or
serious injury in the event of collision.
Always wear the seat belt with the seat belt
extender.
Do not use the seat belt extender when
installing a child restraint system on the
passenger seat. Using a seat belt extender
to fasten a child restraint system on any
seat is dangerous. Always follow the child restraint system manufacturer's installation
instructions and never use a seat belt
extender.
Driver And Passenger
BeltAlert (If Equipped)
Seat Belt Warning Systems
The LED on dashboard trim turns on if
the driver or passenger's seat is
occupied and the seat belt is not
fastened with the ignition switched ON.
If the driver or passenger's seat belt is
unfastened (only when the passenger
seat is occupied) and the vehicle is
driven at a speed faster than about
12 MPH (20 km/h), the
LED flashes.
After a short time, the LED stops
flashing, but remains illuminated.
If a seat belt remains unfastened, the
LED flashes again for a given period of
time. In this case, fasten the seat belt.
Seat Belt Pretensioner
For optimum protection, the driver and
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.
The seat belt pretensioners are
designed to deploy in moderate or
severe frontal, near frontal collisions. In
addition, during a side collision, the
pretensioner operates on the side in
which the collision occurs. The pretensioners operate differently
depending on what types of air bags
are equipped. For details on the seat
belt pretensioner operation, refer to the
“SRS Air Bag Deployment Criteria”
paragraph in this chapter.
When a collision is detected, the
pretensioners deploy simultaneously with
the air bags. For deployment details, refer
to the “SRS Air Bag Deployment Criteria”
paragraph in this chapter.
The seat belt retractors remove slack
quickly as the air bags are expanding. Any
time the air bags and seat belt
pretensioners have fired they must be
replaced.
With Passenger Occupant
Classification System
In addition, the pretensioner system for
the passenger, like the front and side
passenger Air Bag, is designed to only
deploy when the passenger occupant
classification sensor detects a passenger
sitting on the passenger's seat.
Note:
These devices are not a substitute
for proper seat belt placement by the
occupant. The seat belt still must be
worn snugly and positioned properly.
The pretensioners are triggered by
the Occupant Restraint Controller
(ORC). Like the air bags, the
pretensioners are single use items. A
deployed pretensioner or a deployed
air bag must be replaced immediately.
127
Warning!Never allow a child to put the shoulder belt
under an arm or behind their back. In a
crash, the shoulder belt will not protect a
child properly, which may result in serious
injury or death. A child must always wear
both the lap and shoulder portions of the
seat belt correctly.
Child Seat Installation
Position
The passenger lap/shoulder belt can
easily be converted into the automatic
locking mode, which must be done to
hold the child-restraint system.
Note: To check if your seats have side
air bags: FCA vehicles equipped with
side air bag will have an embossed
"SRS AIRBAG" marking on the
outboard shoulder of the seats.
Follow the child restraint system
manufacturer's instructions carefully.
Depending on the type of child restraint
system, it may not employ seat belts
which are in automatic locking mode,
however if it uses an upper tether, it
may not be mounted properly in this vehicle as there is no safe way to
anchor the tether. Confirm whether the
child restraint system can be used with
seat belts by reading the child restraint
system manufacturer's instructions.
Passengers Seat Child Restraint
System Installation (With Passenger
Occupant Classification System)
Proceed as follows:
Make sure the ignition is switched
off.
Slide the seat as far back as
possible.
Place the child-restraint system on
the seat without putting your weight on
the seat and secure the child-restraint
system with the lap portion of the
lap/shoulder belt. See the
manufacturer's instructions on the
child-restraint system for belt routing
instructions.
To get the retractor into the
automatic locking mode, pull the
shoulder belt portion of the seat belt
until the entire length of the belt is out of
the retractor.
Push the child-restraint system firmly
into the vehicle seat. Be sure the belt
retracts as snugly as possible. A clicking noise from the retractor will be
heard during retraction if the system is
in automatic locking mode. If the belt
does not lock the seat down tight,
repeat the previous step and also this
one.
Seat your child safely in the
child-restraint system and secure the
child according to the instructions from
the child-restraint system manufacturer.
Note: Inspect this function before
each use of the child restraint system.
You should not be able to pull the
shoulder belt out of the retractor while
the system is in the automatic locking
mode. When you remove the
child-restraint system, be sure the belt
fully retracts to return the system to
emergency locking mode before
occupants use the seat belts.
Place the ignition in the ON position
and make sure the passenger air bag
deactivation indicator light illuminates
after installing a child restraint system
on the passenger seat. If the passenger
air bag deactivation indicator light does
not illuminate, remove the child restraint
system, place the ignition in the OFF
position, and then reinstall the child
restraint system.
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SAFETY