2-2
You will find many safety precautions
and recommendations throughout
this section, and throughout this man-
ual. The safety precautions in this sec-
tion are among the most important.
Always wear your seat belt
A seat belt is your best protection in
all types of accidents. Air bags are
designed to supplement seat belts,
not replace them. So even though
your vehicle is equipped with air bags,
ALWAYS make sure you and your
passengers wear your seat belts, and
wear them properly.
Restrain all children
All children under age 13 should ride
in your vehicle properly restrained in
a rear seat, not the front seat. Infants
and small children should be
restrained in an appropriate child
restraint. Larger children should use
a booster seat with the lap/shoulder
belt until they can use the seat belt
properly without a booster seat.
Air bag hazards
While air bags can save lives, they
can also cause serious or fatal
injuries to occupants who sit too
close to them, or who are not prop-
erly restrained. Infants, young chil-
dren, and shorter adults are at the
greatest risk of being injured by an
inflating air bag. Follow all instruc-
tions and warnings in this manual.
Driver distraction
Driver distraction presents a serious
and potentially deadly danger, espe-
cially for inexperienced drivers. Safety
should be the first concern when
behind the wheel and drivers need to
be aware of the wide array of potential
distractions, such as drowsiness,
reaching for objects, eating, personal
grooming, other passengers, and
using cellular phones.
Drivers can become distracted when
they take their eyes and attention off
the road or their hands off the wheel
to focus on activities other than driv-
ing. To reduce your risk of distraction
or getting into an accident:
• ALWAYS set up your mobile devices
(i.e., MP3 players, phones, naviga-
tion units, etc.) when your vehicle is
parked or safely stopped.
ONLY use your mobile device
when allowed by laws and when
conditions permit safe use. NEVER
text or email while driving. Most
states have laws prohibiting drivers
from texting. Some states and
cities also prohibit drivers from
using handheld phones.
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Safety system of your vehicle
2-3
Safety system of your vehicle
NEVER let the use of a mobile
device distract you from driving.
You have a responsibility to your
passengers and others on the road
to always drive safely, with your
hands on the wheel as well as your
eyes and attention on the road.
Control your speed
Excessive speed is a major factor in
crash injuries and deaths. Generally,
the higher the speed, the greater the
risk, but serious injuries can also
occur at lower speeds. Never drive
faster than is safe for current condi-
tions, regardless of the maximum
speed posted.
Keep your vehicle in safe condi-
tion
Having a tire blowout or a mechani-
cal failure can be extremely haz-
ardous. To reduce the possibility of
such problems, check your tire pres-
sures and condition frequently, and
perform all regularly scheduled
maintenance.
2
2-6
Safety system of your vehicle
Front seats
Take the following precautions
when adjusting your seat belt:
NEVER use one seat belt for
more than one occupant.
Always position the seatback
upright with the lap portion of
the seat belt snug and low
across the hips.
NEVER allow children or small
infants to ride in a passenger’s
lap.
Do not route the seat belt
across your neck, across sharp
edges, or reroute the shoulder
strap away from your body.
Do not allow the seat belt to
become caught or jammed.
WARNING
Take the following precautions
when adjusting your seat:
NEVER attempt to adjust the
seat while the vehicle is mov-
ing. The seat could respond
with unexpected movement
and may cause loss of vehicle
control resulting in an acci-
dent.
Do not place anything under
the front seats. Loose objects
in the driver's foot area could
interfere with the operation of
the foot pedals, causing an
accident.
Do not allow anything to inter-
fere with the normal position
and proper locking of the seat-
back.
Do not place a cigarette lighter
on the floor or seat. When you
operate the seat, gas may exit
out of the lighter causing a fire.
(Continued)
WARNING
To prevent injury:
Do not adjust your seat while
wearing your seat belt.
Moving the seat cushion for-
ward may cause strong pres-
sure on your abdomen.
Do not allow your hands or
fingers to get caught in the
seat mechanisms while the
seat is moving.
(Continued)
Use extreme caution when
picking small objects trapped
under the seats or between the
seat and the center console.
Your hands might be cut or
injured by the sharp edges of
the seat mechanism.
WARNING
2-14
Headrest
The vehicle’s front and rear seats
have adjustable headrests. The head-
rests provide comfort for passengers,
but more importantly they are
designed to help protect passengers
from whiplash and other neck and
spinal injuries during an accident,
especially in a rear impact collision.
Safety system of your vehicle
To reduce the risk of serious
injury or death in an accident,
take the following precautions
when adjusting your headrests:
Always properly adjust the
headrests for all passengers
BEFORE starting the vehicle.
NEVER let anyone ride in a seat
with the headrest removed.
Adjust the headrests so the
middle of the headrests is at
the same height as the height
of the top of the eyes.
NEVER adjust the headrest
position of the driver's seat
when the vehicle is in motion.
Adjust the headrest as close
to the passenger's head as
possible. Do not use a seat
cushion that holds the body
away from the seatback.
Make sure the headrest locks
into position after adjusting it.
WARNING
To prevent damage, NEVER hit
or pull on the headrests.
CAUTION
2-18
Seat warmers and air ventila-
tion seats
Seat warmers
Seat warmers are provided to warm
the seats during cold weather.
Safety system of your vehicle
The seat warmers can cause a
serious burn, even at low tem-
peratures and especially if used
for long periods of time.
Passengers must be able to feel
if the seat is becoming too warm
so they can turn it off, if needed.
People who cannot detect tem-
perature change or pain to the
skin should use extreme cau-
tion, especially the following
types of passengers:
Infants, children, elderly or
disabled persons, or hospital
outpatients.
People with sensitive skin or
who burn easily.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Fatigued individuals.
Intoxicated individuals.
People taking medication that
can cause drowsiness or
sleepiness.
WARNING
NEVER place anything on the
seat that insulates against heat
when the seat warmer is in oper-
ation, such as a blanket or seat
cushion. This may cause the
seat warmer to overheat, caus-
ing a burn or damage to the seat.
WARNING
To prevent damage to the seat
warmers and seats:
Never use a solvent such as
paint thinner, benzene, alco-
hol or gasoline to clean the
seats.
Do not place heavy or sharp
objects on seats equipped
with seat warmers.
Do not change the seat cover.
It may damage the seat
warmer or air ventilation sys-
tem.
CAUTION
2-38
Safety system of your vehicle
Forward-facing child restraints
A forward-facing child seat provides
restraint for the child’s body with a
harness. Keep children in a forward-
facing child seat with a harness until
they reach the top height or weight
limit allowed by your child restraint’s
manufacturer.
Once your child outgrows the forward-
facing child restraint, your child is
ready for a booster seat.
Booster seats
A booster seat is a restraint designed
to improve the fit of the vehicle’s seat
belt system. A booster seat positions
the seat belt so that it fits properly
over the lap of your child. Keep your
child in a booster seat until they are
big enough to sit in the seat without a
booster and still have the seat belt fit
properly.
For a seat belt to fit properly, the lap
belt must lie snugly across the upper
thighs, not the stomach. The shoulder
belt should lie snug across the shoul-
der and chest and not across the neck
or face. Children under age 13 must
always ride in the rear seats and must
always be properly restrained to mini-
mize the risk of injury.
Installing a Child Restraint
System (CRS)
Before installing your child
restraint system always:
Read and follow the instruc-
tions provided by the manu-
facturer of the child restraint.
Read and follow the instruc-
tions regarding child restraint
systems in this manual.
Failure to follow all warnings
and instructions could increase
the risk of the SERIOUS INJURY
or DEATH if an accident occurs.
WARNING
If the vehicle headrest prevents
proper installation of a child
seat (as described in the child
seat system manual), the head-
rest of the respective seating
position shall be readjusted or
entirely removed.
WARNING
ODH037062
2-50
Safety system of your vehicle
To reduce the risk of serious
injury or death from an inflating
side air bag, take the following
precautions:
Seat belts must be worn at all
times to help keep occupants
positioned properly.
Do not allow passengers to
lean their heads or bodies
onto doors, put their arms on
the doors, stretch their arms
out of the window, or place
objects between the doors
and seats.
Hold the steering wheel at the
9 o'clock and 3 o'clock posi-
tions, to minimize the risk of
injuries to your hands and
arms.
Do not use any accessory
seat covers. This could reduce
or prevent the effectiveness
of the system.
(Continued)
WARNING (Continued)
Do not hang other objects
except clothes on the clothes
hanger. In an accident it may
cause vehicle damage or per-
sonal injury especially when
airbag is inflated.
Do not place any objects over
the air bag or between the air
bag and yourself. Also, do not
attach any objects around the
area the air bag inflates such
as the door, side door glass,
front and rear pillar.
Do not place any objects
between the door and the
seat. They may become dan-
gerous projectiles if the side
air bag inflates.
Do not install any accessories
on the side or near the side air
bags.
Do not put any objects
between the side air bag label
and seat cushion. It could
cause harm if the vehicle is in
a crash severe enough to
cause the air bags to deploy.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Do not cause impact to the
doors when the Engine Start/
Stop button is in the ON posi-
tion or this may cause the
side air bags to inflate.
If the seat or seat cover is
damaged, have the vehicle
checked and repaired by an
authorized retailer of Genesis
Branded products.
2-52
Safety system of your vehicle
How does the air bags system
operate?
The SRS consists of the following
components:
1. Driver's front air bag module
2. Passenger's front air bag module
3. Side air bag modules
4. Curtain air bag modules
5. Retractor pre-tensioner assemblies
6. Air bag warning light
7. SRS control module (SRSCM)/
Rollover sensor
8. Front impact sensors
9. Side impact sensors10. Driver's knee air bag module
11. Driver's and front passenger's
seat belt buckle sensors
12. Emergency fastening device
13. Occupant classification system
The SRSCM continually monitors all
SRS components while the Engine
Start/Stop button is in the ON posi-
tion to determine if a crash impact is
severe enough to require air bag
deployment or pre-tensioner seat
belt deployment.
(Continued)
Do not place any objects over
the air bag. Also, do not attach
any objects around the area
the air bag inflates such as the
door, side door glass, front
and rear pillar, roof side rail.
Do not hang hard or breakable
objects on the clothes hanger.
Do not hang other objects
except clothes on the clothes
hanger. In an accident it may
cause vehicle damage or per-
sonal injury especially when
airbag is inflated.
ODH033104L/Q