
Side Impacts
The Side Air Bags are designed to activate in certain side
impacts. The Occupant Restraint Controller (ORC) deter-
mines whether the deployment of the Side Air Bags in a
particular impact event is appropriate, based on the sever-
ity and type of collision. The side impact sensors aid the
ORC in determining the appropriate response to impact
events. The system is calibrated to deploy the Side Air Bags
on the impact side of the vehicle during impacts that
require Side Air Bag occupant protection. In side impacts,
the Side Air Bags deploy independently; a left side impact
deploys the left Side Air Bags only and a right-side impact
deploys the right Side Air Bags only. Vehicle damage by
itself is not a good indicator of whether or not Side Air
Bags should have deployed.
The Side Air Bags will not deploy in all side collisions,
including some collisions at certain angles, or some side
collisions that do not impact the area of the passenger
compartment. The Side Air Bags may deploy during
angled or offset frontal collisions where the front air bags
deploy.Side Air Bags are a supplement to the seat belt restraint
system. Side Air Bags deploy in less time than it takes to
blink your eyes.
WARNING!
•
Occupants, including children, who are up against or
very close to Side Air Bags can be seriously injured
or killed. Occupants, including children, should
never lean on or sleep against the door, side win-
dows, or area where the side air bags inflate, even if
they are in an infant or child restraint.
• Seat belts (and child restraints where appropriate)
are necessary for your protection in all collisions.
They also help keep you in position, away from an
inflating Side Air Bag. To get the best protection
from the Side Air Bags, occupants must wear their
seat belts properly and sit upright with their backs
against the seats. Children must be properly re-
strained in a child restraint or booster seat that is
appropriate for the size of the child.
220 SAFETY

and safety systems for a short period of time, typically 30
seconds or less. The EDR in this vehicle is designed to
record such data as:
•How various systems in your vehicle were operating;
• Whether or not the driver and passenger safety belts
were buckled/fastened;
• How far (if at all) the driver was depressing the accel-
erator and/or brake pedal; and,
• How fast the vehicle was traveling.
These data can help provide a better understanding of the
circumstances in which crashes and injuries occur.
NOTE: EDR data are recorded by your vehicle only if a
non-trivial crash situation occurs; no data are recorded by
the EDR under normal driving conditions and no personal
data (e.g., name, gender, age, and crash location) are
recorded. However, other parties, such as law enforcement,
could combine the EDR data with the type of personally
identifying data routinely acquired during a crash investi-
gation.
To read data recorded by an EDR, special equipment is
required, and access to the vehicle or the EDR is needed. In
addition to the vehicle manufacturer, other parties, such as law enforcement, that have the special equipment, can read
the information if they have access to the vehicle or the
EDR.
Child Restraints
Everyone in your vehicle needs to be buckled up at all
times, including babies and children. Every state in the
United States, and every Canadian province, requires that
small children ride in proper restraint systems. This is the
law, and you can be prosecuted for ignoring it.
Children 12 years or younger should ride properly buckled
up in a rear seat, if available. According to crash statistics,
children are safer when properly restrained in the rear
seats rather than in the front.
WARNING!
In a collision, an unrestrained child can become a
projectile inside the vehicle. The force required to hold
even an infant on your lap could become so great that
you could not hold the child, no matter how strong you
are. The child and others could be badly injured or
killed. Any child riding in your vehicle should be in a
proper restraint for the child’s size.
5
SAFETY 225

Child Size, Height, Weight Or AgeRecommended Type Of Child
Restraint
Larger Children Children who have outgrown their
forward-facing child restraint, but
are too small to properly fit the vehi- cle’s seat belt Belt Positioning Booster Seat and the
vehicle seat belt, seated in a rear seat of the vehicle
Children Too Large for Child Restraints Children 12 years old or younger,
who have outgrown the height or weight limit of their booster seat Vehicle Seat Belt, seated in a rear seat
of the vehicle
Infant And Child Restraints
Safety experts recommend that children ride rear-facing in
the vehicle until they are two years old or until they reach
either the height or weight limit of their rear-facing child
restraint. Two types of child restraints can be used rear-
facing: infant carriers and convertible child seats.
The infant carrier is only used rear-facing in the vehicle. It
is recommended for children from birth until they reach
the weight or height limit of the infant carrier. Convertible
child seats can be used either rear-facing or forward-facing
in the vehicle. Convertible child seats often have a higher
weight limit in the rear-facing direction than infant carriers
do, so they can be used rear-facing by children who have
outgrown their infant carrier but are still less than at least two years old. Children should remain rear-facing until
they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their
convertible child seat.
WARNING!
•Never place a rear-facing child restraint in front of an
air bag. A deploying passenger front air bag can cause
death or serious injury to a child 12 years or younger,
including a child in a rear-facing child restraint.
• Never install a rear-facing child restraint in the front
seat of a vehicle. Only use a rear-facing child re-
straint in the rear seat. If the vehicle does not have a
rear seat, do not transport a rear-facing child restraint
in that vehicle.
5
SAFETY 227

Older Children And Child Restraints
Children who are two years old or who have outgrown their
rear-facing convertible child seat can ride forward-facing in
the vehicle. Forward-facing child seats and convertible child
seats used in the forward-facing direction are for children
who are over two years old or who have outgrown the
rear-facing weight or height limit of their rear-facing con-
vertible child seat. Children should remain in a forward-
facing child seat with a harness for as long as possible, up to
the highest weight or height allowed by the child seat.
All children whose weight or height is above the forward-
facing limit for the child seat should use a belt-positioning
booster seat until the vehicle’s seat belts fit properly. If the
child cannot sit with knees bent over the vehicle’s seat
cushion while the child’s back is against the seatback, they
should use a belt-positioning booster seat. The child and
belt-positioning booster seat are held in the vehicle by the
seat belt.
WARNING!
•Improper installation can lead to failure of an infant
or child restraint. It could come loose in a collision.
(Continued)
WARNING! (Continued)
The child could be badly injured or killed. Follow
the child restraint manufacturer ’s directions exactly
when installing an infant or child restraint.
• After a child restraint is installed in the vehicle, do
not move the vehicle seat forward or rearward be-
cause it can loosen the child restraint attachments.
Remove the child restraint before adjusting the ve-
hicle seat position. When the vehicle seat has been
adjusted, reinstall the child restraint.
• When your child restraint is not in use, secure it in
the vehicle with the seat belt or LATCH anchorages,
or remove it from the vehicle. Do not leave it loose in
the vehicle. In a sudden stop or accident, it could
strike the occupants or seatbacks and cause serious
personal injury.
Children Too Large For Booster Seats
Children who are large enough to wear the shoulder belt
comfortably, and whose legs are long enough to bend over
the front of the seat when their back is against the seatback,
should use the seat belt in a rear seat. Use this simple 5-step
test to decide whether the child can use the vehicle’s seat
belt alone:
228 SAFETY

Lower Anchors And Tethers For CHildren (LATCH)
Restraint System
Your vehicle is equipped with the child restraint anchorage
system called LATCH, which stands for Lower Anchors
and Tethers for CHildren. The LATCH system has three
vehicle anchor points for installing LATCH-equipped child
seats. There are two lower anchorages located at the back
of the seat cushion where it meets the seatback and one top
tether anchorage located behind the seating position. These
anchorages are used to install LATCH-equipped child seats
without using the vehicle’s seat belts. Some seating posi-
tions may have a top tether anchorage but no lower
anchorages. In these seating positions, the seat belt must beused with the top tether anchorage to install the child
restraint. Please see the following table for more
information.
LATCH Positions For Installing Child Restraints In
This Vehicle
LATCH Label
60/40 Second Row LATCH Positions (5 Passenger)
Lower Anchorage Symbol (2 Anchorages Per Seating Position)Top Tether Anchorage Symbol
5
SAFETY 231

Frequently Asked Questions About Installing Child Restraints With LATCH
Can the LATCH anchorages and the seat belt be used together to attach a rear-
facing or forward-facing child restraint? No Do not use the seat belt when you use the LATCH an-
chorage system to attach a rear-facing or forward-facing child restraint.
Booster seats may be attached to the LATCH anchoragesif allowed by the booster seat manufacturer. See yourbooster seat owner ’s manual for more information.
Can a child seat be installed in the center position using the inner LATCH lower anchorages? No–5
Passenger N/A — 6
Passenger No—7
Passenger 7 and 5 Passenger: Use the seat belt and tether anchor
to install a child seat in the center seating position.
Can two child restraints be attached us-
ing a common lower LATCH anchorage? No Never “share” a LATCH anchorage with two or more
child restraints. If the center position does not have
dedicated LATCH lower anchorages, use the seat belt to install a child seat in the center position next to a
child seat using the LATCH anchorages in an outboard position.
Can the rear-facing child restraint touch the back of the front passenger seat? Yes The child seat may touch the back of the front passen-
ger seat if the child restraint manufacturer also allowscontact. See your child restraint owner ’s manual for more information.5
SAFETY 233

Center Seat LATCH — Five Or Seven Second Row
Passenger Seating Only
WARNING!
•Do not install a child restraint in the center position
using the LATCH system. This position is not ap-
proved for installing child seats using the LATCH
attachments. You must use the seat belt and tether
anchor to install a child seat in the center seating
position.
• Never use the same lower anchorage to attach more
than one child restraint. Please refer to “To Install A
LATCH-Compatible Child Restraint” for typical in-
stallation instructions.
Vehicle With A Center Arm Rest Tether — Five Or
Seven Passenger Seating Only
For rear-facing child restraints secured in the center seat
position with the vehicle seat belts, the rear center seat
position has an armrest tether that secures the arm rest in
the upward position.
1. To access the center seat arm rest tether, first lower the arm rest. The tether is located behind the armrest and
hooked onto the plastic seat backing.
2. Pull down on the tether to unhook it from the plastic seat backing.
Center Seat Position Arm Rest Release Strap
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SAFETY 239

3. Raise the armrest and attach the tether hook to the straplocated on the front of the arm rest.
Always follow the directions of the child restraint manu-
facturer when installing your child restraint. Not all child
restraint systems will be installed as described here.
To Install A LATCH-Compatible Child Restraint
If the selected seating position has a Switchable Automatic
Locking Retractor (ALR) seat belt, stow the seat belt,
following the instructions below. See the section “Installing
Child Restraints Using the Vehicle Seat Belt” to check what
type of seat belt each seating position has. 1. Loosen the adjusters on the lower straps and on the
tether strap of the child seat so that you can more easily
attach the hooks or connectors to the vehicle anchor-
ages.
2. Place the child seat between the lower anchorages for that seating position. For some second row seats, you
may need to recline the seat and / or raise the head
restraint (if adjustable) to get a better fit. If the rear seat
can be moved forward and rearward in the vehicle, you
may wish to move it to its rear-most position to make
room for the child seat. You may also move the front seat
forward to allow more room for the child seat.
3. Attach the lower hooks or connectors of the child restraint to the lower anchorages in the selected seating
position.
4. If the child restraint has a tether strap, connect it to the top tether anchorage. See the section “Installing Child
Restraints Using the Top Tether Anchorage” for direc-
tions to attach a tether anchor.
5. Tighten all of the straps as you push the child restraint rearward and downward into the seat. Remove slack in
the straps according to the child restraint manufactur-
er ’s instructions.
Center Seat Position Arm Rest Tether
240 SAFETY