Safety system of your vehicle
2
Important safety precautions .............................2-2Always wear your seat belt ..........................................2-2
Restrain all children .........................................................2-2
Air bag hazards ................................................................2-2
Driver distraction .............................................................2-2
Control your speed ..........................................................2-3
Keep your vehicle in safe condition ............................2-3
Seats ........................................................................2-4 Safety precautions ..........................................................2-6
Front seats ..........................................................................2-7
Rear seats .........................................................................2-12
Headrest ...........................................................................2-15
Seat warmers and air ventilation seats.....................2-19
Seat belts .............................................................2-22 Seat belt safety precautions ......................................2-22
Seat belt warning light .................................................2-23
Seat belt restraint system ...........................................2-25
Additional seat belt safety precautions ...................2-30
Care of seat belts ..........................................................2-32 Child restraint system (CRS) .............................2-33
Our recommendation:Children always in the rear ..2-33
Selecting a Child Restraint System (CRS) ................2-34
Installing a Child Restraint System (CRS)..................2-36
Air bag - supplemental restraint system ........2-45 Where are the air bags? ..............................................2-48
How does the air bags system operate? .................2-53
What to expect after an air bag inflates ................2-57
Why didn't my air bag go off in a collision? ...........2-58
SRS care ...........................................................................2-63
Additional safety precautions .....................................2-64
Air bag warning labels ..................................................2-64
This chapter provides you with important information about how to protect yourself and your passengers.
It explains how to properly use your seats and seat belts, and how your air bags work.
Additionally, this chapter explains how to properly restrain infants and children in your vehicle.
2-2
You will find many safety precautions and recommendations throughoutthis 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. Infantsand small children should be
restrained in an appropriate Child
Restraint System. Larger childrenshould use a booster seat with the
lap/shoulder belt until they can use
the seat belt properly without abooster seat.
Air bag hazards
While air bags can save lives, they
can also cause serious or fatal
injuries to occupants who sit tooclose to them, or who are not prop-
erly restrained. Infants, young chil-
dren, and short 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 offthe road or their hands off the wheel
to focus on activities other than driv-
ing. To reduce your risk of distractionand 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 conditions per-
mit safe use. NEVER text or email
while driving. Most countries have
laws prohibiting drivers from texting.
Some countries and cities also pro-
hibit drivers from using handheld
phones.
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Safety system of your vehicle
2-6
Safety system of your vehicle
Safety precautions
Adjusting the seats so that you are sit-
ting in a safe, comfortable position
plays an important role in driver and
passenger safety together with theseat belts and air bags in an accident.
Air bags
You can take steps to reduce the risk
of being injured by an inflating air
bag. Sitting too close to an air bag
greatly increases the risk of injury in
the event the air bag inflates. Move
your seat as far back as possible
from front air bags, while still main-
taining control of the vehicle.
Seat belts
Always fasten your seat belt before
starting any trip. At all times, passen-
gers should sit upright and be prop-
erly restrained. Infants and small
children must be restrained in appro-
priate Child Restraint Systems.
Children who have outgrown a
booster seat and adults must be
restrained using the seat belts.
Do not use a cushion that reduces
friction between the seat and the
passenger. The passenger's hips
may slide under the lap portionof the seat belt during an acci-
dent or a sudden stop. Serious or fatal internal injuries could result because the seat
belt cannot operate properly.
WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious
injury or death from an inflating
air bag, take the following pre-cautions:
•Adjust the driver’s seat as far
to the rear as possible main-
taining the ability to control the
vehicle.
Adjust the front passenger seat
as far to the rear as possible.
Hold the steering wheel by the
rim with hands at the 9 o’clock
and 3 o’clock positions to min-
imize the risk of injuries to
your hands and arms.
NEVER place anything or any-
one between you and the air
bag.
Do not allow the front passen-
ger to place feet or legs on the
dashboard to minimize the riskof leg injuries.
WARNING
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 on a passenger’slap.
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
2-9
Safety system of your vehicle
2
Power adjustment
To prevent damage to the seats:
Always stop adjusting the seatswhen the seat has been adjust-
ed as far forward or rearward as
possible.
Do not adjust the seats longer than necessary when the engine
is turned off. This may result in
unnecessary battery drain.
Do not operate two or more seats at the same time. This may resultin an electrical malfunction.Forward and rearward adjustment
To move the seat forward or rearward:
1. Push the control switch forward or rearward.
2. Release the switch once the seat reaches the desired position.
Seatback angle
To recline the seatback:
1. Push the control switch forward orrearward.
2. Release the switch once the seat- back reaches the desired position.
NOTICE
NEVER allow children in the
vehicle unattended. The power
seats are operable when the
engine is turned off.
WARNING
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2-19
Safety system of your vehicle
2
Adjusting the height up and down
To raise the headrest:
1. Pull it up to the desired position (1).
To lower the headrest:
1. Push and hold the release button(2) on the headrest support.
2. Lower the headrest to the desired position (3).
Seat warmers and air ventila- tion seats
Front seat warmers (if equipped)
Seat warmers are provided to warm
the seats during cold weather.
The seat warmers can cause a
SERIOUS BURN, even at low
temperatures 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 hospitaloutpatients.
People with sensitive skin or
who burn easily.
Fatigued individuals.
Intoxicated individuals.
WARNING
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Adjust the headrests so the
middle of the headrests is atthe same height as the height
of the top of the eyes.
When seating on the rear seat, do not adjust the height of the
headrest to the lowest.
CAUTION
2-22
Safety system of your vehicle
This section describes how to use the
seat belts properly. It also describessome of the things not to do when
using seat belts.
Seat belt safety precautions
Always fasten your seat belt and
make sure all passengers have fas-
tened their seat belts before starting
any trip. Air bags are designed tosupplement the seat belt as an addi-
tional safety device, but they are not a
substitute. Most countries require all
occupants of a vehicle to wear seat
belts.
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Seat belts must be used by ALL
passengers whenever the vehi-
cle is moving. Take the followingprecautions when adjusting andwearing seat belts:
Children under the age of 13
should be properly restrainedin the rear seats.
Never allow children to ride in
the front passenger seat, unless
the air bag is deactivated. If a
child is seated in the front pas-
senger seat, move the seat as
far back as possible and prop-
erly restrain them in the seat.
NEVER allow an infant or child
to be carried on an occupant’slap.
NEVER ride with the seatback
reclined when the vehicle is
moving.
Do not allow children to share a seat or seat belt.
WARNING Do not wear the shoulder belt
under your arm or behind your
back.
Never wear a seat belt over
fragile objects. If there is a sud-
den stop or impact, the seat
belt can damage it.
Do not use the seat belt if it is
twisted. A twisted seat belt
will not protect you properlyin an accident.
Do not use a seat belt if the
webbing or hardware is dam-
aged.
Do not latch the seat belt into
the buckles of other seats.
NEVER unfasten the seat belt
while driving. This may cause
loss of vehicle control result-ing in an accident.
Make sure there is nothing in
the buckle interfering with the
seat belt latch mechanism.
This may prevent the seat belt
from fastening securely.
2-30
Safety system of your vehicle
Information
Both the driver's and front passen- ger's pre-tensioner seat belts may be
activated in certain frontal or side
collisions.
When the pre-tensioner seat belts are activated, a loud noise may be
heard and fine dust, which may
appear to be smoke, may be visible
in the passenger compartment.
These are normal operating condi-
tions and are not hazardous.
Although it is non-toxic, the fine dust may cause skin irritation and should
not be inhaled for prolonged periods.
Wash all exposed skin areas thor-
oughly after an accident in which the
pre-tensioner seat belts were activat-
ed.Additional seat belt safety pre- cautions
Seat belt use during pregnancy
The seat belt should always be used
during pregnancy. The best way to
protect your unborn child is to protect
yourself by always wearing the seatbelt.
Pregnant women should always wear
a lap-shoulder seat belt. Place the
shoulder belt across your chest, rout-
ed between your breasts and away
from your neck. Place the lap belt
below your belly so that it fits SNUGLY
across your hips and pelvic bone,
under the rounded part of the belly.
Seat belt use and children
Infant and small children
Most countries have Child Restraint
System laws which require children to
travel in approved Child Restraint
System devices, including booster
seats. The age at which seat belts can
be used instead of Child Restraint
System differs among countries, so
you should be aware of the specific
requirements in your country, and
where you are travelling. Infant and
Child Restraint System must be prop-
erly placed and installed in a rear seat.
For more information refer to the “Child
Restraint Systems” in this chapter.
i
To reduce the risk of serious
injury or death to an unborn
child during an accident, preg-
nant women should NEVER
place the lap portion of the seat
belt above or over the area ofthe abdomen where the unborn
child is located.
WARNING
2-31
Safety system of your vehicle
2
Small children are best protected
from injury in an accident when prop-
erly restrained in the rear seat by a
Child Restraint System that meets
the requirements of the Safety
Standards of your country. Before
buying any Child Restraint System,
make sure that it has a label certify-
ing that it meets Safety Standard of
your country.The Child Restraint System must be
appropriate for your child's height
and weight. Check the label on the
Child Restraint System for this infor-
mation. Refer to “Child Restraint
Systems” in this chapter.
Larger children
Children under age 13 and who are
too large for a booster seat should
always occupy the rear seat and use
the available lap/shoulder belts. Aseat belt should lie across the upper
thighs and be snug across the shoul-
der and chest to restrain the child
safely. Check belt fit periodically. A
child's squirming could put the belt
out of position. In the event of an acci-
dent, children are afforded the best
safety restrained by a proper Child
Restraint System in the rear seats.
If a larger child over age 13 must be seated in the front seat, the child
must be securely restrained by the
available lap/shoulder belt and theseat should be placed in the rear-most position.
If the shoulder belt portion slightly
touches the child’s neck or face, tryplacing the child closer to the center
of the vehicle. If the shoulder belt still
touches their face or neck, they need
to be returned to an appropriatebooster seat in the rear seat.
Seat belt use and injured people
A seat belt should be used when an
injured person is being transported.
Consult a physician for specific rec-
ommendations.
ALWAYS properly restrain
infants and small children in a
Child Restraint System appropri-
ate for the child’s height andweight.
To reduce the risk of serious
injury or death to a child and
other passengers, NEVER hold a
child in your lap or arms when
the vehicle is moving. The violent
forces created during an acci-
dent will tear the child from your
arms and throw the child against
the interior of the vehicle.
WARNING
Always make sure larger chil-
dren’s seat belts are worn and
properly adjusted.
NEVER allow the shoulder
belt to contact the child’s
neck or face.
Do not allow more than one
child to use a single seat belt.
WARNING