2–11
Essential Safety Equipment
Seats
Rear outboard seat
Except Mexico
Mexico
Rear center seat
Removal/Installation
To remove the head restraint, pull it up
while pressing the stop-catch.
To install the head restraint, insert the legs
into the holes while pressing the stop-
catch.
WARNING
Always drive with the head restraints
installed when seats are being used and
make sure they are properly installed:
Driving with the head restraints not
installed is dangerous. With no support
behind your head, your neck could be
seriously injured in a collision.
After installing a head restraint, try
lifting it to make sure that it does not
pull out:
Driving with an unsecured head
restraint is dangerous as the
eff ectiveness of the head restraint will
be compromised which could cause it
to unexpectedly detach from the seat.
CAUTION
¾ When installing a head restraint, make
sure that it is installed correctly with
the front of the head restraint facing
forward. If the head restraint is installed
incorrectly, it could detach from the seat
during a collision and result in injury.
¾ The head restraints on each of the front
and rear seats are specialized to each
seat. Do not switch around the head
restraint positions. If a head restraint is
not installed to its correct seat position,
the eff ectiveness of the head restraint
during a collision will be compromised
which could cause injury.
% : A ( * ' # ' A ' F K V K Q P K P F D % : A ( * ' # ' A ' F K V K Q P K P F D
2–12
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
Seat Belt Precautions
Seat belts help to decrease the possibility of severe injury during accidents and sudden
stops. Mazda recommends that the driver and all passengers always wear seat belts.
(Except Mexico)
All of the seat belt retractors are designed to keep the lap/shoulder belts out of the way when
not in use.
The driver's seat belt has no provisions for child-restraint systems and has only an
emergency locking mode. The driver may wear it comfortably, and it will lock during a
collision.
However, the front passenger's seat and all rear lap/shoulder belt retractors operate in
two modes: emergency locking mode, and for child-restraint systems, automatic locking
mode. While we recommend you put all children in the rear seats, if you must use the front
passenger seat for a child, slide the front passenger seat as far back as possible and make
sure any child-restraint system is secured properly.
(Mexico)
All the seats have lap/shoulder belts. These belts have retractors with inertia locks that keep
them out of the way when not in use. The locks allow the belts to remain comfortable on
users, but they will lock in position during a collision.
WARNING
Always wear your seat belt and make sure all occupants are properly restrained:
Not wearing a seat belt is extremely dangerous. During a collision, occupants not
wearing seat belts could hit someone or things inside the vehicle or even be thrown out of
the vehicle. They could be seriously injured or even killed. In the same collision, occupants
wearing seat belts would be much safer.
Do not wear twisted seat belts:
Twisted seat belts are dangerous. In a collision, the full width of the belt is not available to
absorb the impact. This puts more force on the bones beneath the belt, which could cause
serious injury or death. So, if your seat belt is twisted, you must straighten the seat belt to
remove any twists and to allow the full width of the belt to be used.
Never use one seat belt on more than one person at a time:
Using one seat belt for more than one person at a time is dangerous. A seat belt used
in this way cannot spread the impact forces properly and the two passengers could
be crushed together and seriously injured or even killed. Never use one belt for more
than one person at a time and always operate the vehicle with each occupant properly
restrained.
% : A ( * ' # ' A ' F K V K Q P K P F D % : A ( * ' # ' A ' F K V K Q P K P F D
2–16
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
4-24 .
Refer to Seat Belt Warning Beep on page
7-40 .
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 vehicles with the front passenger
occupant classi ¿ cation system, the
pretensioners deploy simultaneously
with the air bags when a roll-over is also
detected.
For deployment details, refer to the SRS
Air Bag Deployment Criteria (page
2-51 ).
The front seat belt retractors remove slack
quickly as the air bags are expanding.
Any time the air bags and seat belt
pretensioners have ¿ red they must be
replaced.
A system malfunction or operation
conditions are indicated by a warning.
Refer to Warning/Indicator Lights on page
4-24 .
Refer to Air Bag/Front Seat Belt
Pretensioner System Warning Beep on
page 7-39 .
% : A ( * ' # ' A ' F K V K Q P K P F D % : A ( * ' # ' A ' F K V K Q P K P F D