2020 MAZDA MODEL MX-5 MIATA RF Owners Manual

Head Restraints
▼Non-Adjustable Head Restraints
Your vehicle is equipped with non-adjustable head restraints on
the driver's and passenger's
seatbacks. The non-adjustable h ead restraints consist of a trimmed foam covering over the
upper structure of the seatbacks and are intended to help prote ct you and the passenger from
neck injury. Adjust the seatbacks to their upright, on-road pos itions so that the head restraint
is positioned as close as possible to the back of your head.
WA R N I N G
Make sure the seatbacks are properly adjusted to their upright, on-road positions before the
vehicle is driven:
Driving with the seatbacks not adjusted properly is dangerous. With no support behind your
head, your neck could be seri ously injured in a collision.
Essential Safety Equipment
Seats
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Seat Warmer*
The seats are electrically heated. The
ignition must be switched ON.
Press the seat warmer switch while the
ignition is switched ON to operate the seat
warmer. The indicator lights turn on to
indicate that the seat warmer is operating.
The mode changes as follows each time
the seat warmer switch is pressed.
Low Mid
High
OFF
WA R N I N G
Be careful when using the seat warmer:
The heat from the seat warmer may be too
hot for some people, as indicated as
follows, and could cause a
low-temperature burn.
 Infants, small children, elderly people,
and physically challenged people
 People with delicate skin
 People who are excessively fatigued
 People who are intoxicated
 People who have taken sleep-inducing
medicine such as sleeping pills or cold
medicine
Do not use the seat warmer with anything
having high moisture-retention ability such
as a blanket or cushion on the seat:
The seat may be heated excessively and
cause a low-temperature burn.
Do not use the seat warmer even when
taking a short nap in the vehicle:
The seat may be heated excessively and
cause a low-temperature burn.
Do not place heavy objects with sharp
projections on the seat, or insert needles or
pins into it:
This could cause the seat to become
excessively heated and result in injury from
a minor burn.
CAUTION
Do not use organic solvents to clean the
seat. It may damage the seat surface and
the heater.
NOTE
Use the seat warmer when the engine is
running. Leaving the seat warmer on for
long periods with the engine not running
could cause the battery power to be
depleted.
If the ignition is switched off while the
seat warmer is operating (High, Mid or
Low) and then switched ON again, the
seat warmer will automatically operate
at the temperature set before switching
off the ignition.
The temperature of the seat warmer
cannot be adjusted beyond High, Mid
and Low because the seat warmer is
controlled by a thermostat.
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Warmer
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Seat Belt Precautions
Seat belts help to decrease the possibility of severe injury during accidents and sudden
stops. Mazda recommends that the driver and passenger always we ar seat belts.

(Except Mexico)
All of the seat belt retractors are designed to keep the lap/sh oulder belts out of the way when
not in use.
The driver's seat belt has no pr ovisions 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 passenger's seat lap/shoulder belt retractor opera tes in two modes: emergency
locking mode, and for child-res traint systems, automatic lockin g mode. If you must use the
passenger seat for a ch ild, slide the 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 retract ors 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.
WA R N I N G
Always wear your seat belt and make sure all occupants are properly restrained:
Not wearing a seat belt is extremely dangerou s. 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 fu ll 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. Ne ver use one belt for more than one person at a
time and always operate the vehicle wi th each occupant properly restrained.
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
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Do not operate a vehicle with a damaged seat belt:
Using a damaged seat belt is dangerous. An accident could damage the belt webbing of the
seat belt in use. A damaged seat belt cannot pr ovide adequate protection in a collision. Have
an Authorized Mazda Dealer inspect all seat be lt systems in use during an accident before
they are used again.
Have your seat belts changed immediately if the pretensioner or load limiter has been
expended:
Always have an Authorized Mazda Dealer imme diately inspect the seat belt pretensioners
and air bags after any collision. Like the air ba gs, the seat belt pretensioners and load limiters
will only function once and must be replaced aft er any collision that caused them to deploy. A
seat belt with an expended pret ensioner or load limiter is still better than wearing no seat belt
at all; however, if the seat belt pretensioners and load limiters are not replaced, the risk of
injury in a collision will increase.
Positioning the Shoulder Portion of the Seat Belt:
Improper positioning of the shoulder portion of the seat belt is dangerous. Always make sure
the shoulder portion of the seat belt is positioned across your shoulder and near your neck,
but never under your arm, on yo ur neck, or on your upper arm.
Positioning the Lap Portion of the Seat Belt:
The lap portion of the seat belt worn too high is dangerous. In a collision, this would
concentrate the impact force directly on the abdominal area, causing serious injury. Wear the
lap portion of the belt snugly and as low as possible.
CAUTION
Belt retraction may become difficult if the belts and seat belt guides are soiled, so try to keep
them clean. For more details about cleaning th e seat belts, refer to "Seat Belt Maintenance"
(page 6-67).

Seat belt guide
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
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▼Pregnant Women and Persons wi
th Serious Medical Conditions
Pregnant women should always wear seat belts. Ask your doctor f or specific
recommendations.
The lap belt should be worn SNUGL Y 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 b elts. Check with your doctor
for any special instructions regarding specific medical conditi ons.
▼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 1 time and loosen, then pull it out again slowly.
(Seat Belt with Auto matic 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 ou t to its full length. If the belt
feels tight and hinders comfortabl e 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 c omfortable emergency locking mode, wait until the vehicle has stopped
in a safe, level area, retract the belt fully to convert it bac k to emergency locking mode and
then extend it around you again.
▼ Automatic Locking Mode*
Always use the automatic locking mode to keep the child-restrai
nt system from shifting to
an unsafe position in the event of an accident. To enable seat belt automatic locking mode,
pull it all the way out and connect it as instructed on the chi ld-restraint system. It will retract
down to the child-res traint system and stay locked on it. See t he section on child restraint
(page 2-21).
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
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Seat Belt
WA R N I N G
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 guide
▼Fastening the Seat Belt
Seat belt tongue
Seat belt buckle
Position the lap belt as low as possible, not
on the abdominal area, then adjust the
shoulder belt so that it fits snugly against
your body.
Keep low on
hip bone Take up slack
Too high

Before fastening the seat belt, make sure
that the seat belt passes through the seat
belt guide correctly and it is not twisted.
Seat belt guide
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
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▼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.
Button
NOTE
If a belt does not fully retract, inspect it
for kinks and twists. If it is still not
retracting properly, have it inspected at an
Authorized Mazda Dealer.
Seat Belt Warning Systems
If it detects that the occupant seat belt is
unfastened, the warning light or beep
alerts the occupant.
Refer to Taking Action on page 7-40.
Refer to Seat Belt Wa
rning Beep on page
7-48.
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
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Seat Belt Pretensioner andLoad Limiting Systems
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.

Pretensioners:
When a collision is detected, the
pretensioners deploy simultaneously with
the air bags.
For deployment details, refer to the SRS
Air Bag Deployment Criteria (page
2-46).
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.
A system malfunction or operation
conditions are indicated by a warning.
Refer to Taking Action on page 7-40.
Refer to Air Bag/Sea t Belt Pretensioner
System Warning Beep on page 7-48.
In addition, the pretensioner system for the
passenger, like th e 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.
For details, refer to the passenger occupant
classification sensor (page 2-49).

Load limiter:
The load limiting system releases belt
webbing in a controlled manner to reduce
belt force on the occupant's chest. While
the most severe load on a seat belt occurs
in frontal collisions, th e load limiter has an
automatic mechanical function and can
activate in any accident mode with
sufficient occupant movement.
Even if the pretensioners have not fired,
the load limiting function must be checked
by an Authorized Mazda Dealer.
WA R N I N G
Wear seat belts only as recommended in
this owner's manual:
Incorrect positioning of the driver and
passenger seat belts is dangerous. Without
proper positioning, the pretensioner and
load limiting systems cannot provide
adequate protection in an accident and
this could result in serious injury. For more
details about wearing seat belts, refer to
"Fastening the seat belts" (page 2-16).
Have your seat belts changed immediately
if the pretensioner or load limiter has been
expended:
Always have an Authorized Mazda Dealer
immediately inspect the seat belt
pretensioners and air ba gs after any collision.
Like the air bags, the seat belt pretensioners
and load limiters will only function once and
must be replaced after any collision that
caused them to deploy. A seat belt with an
expended pretensioner or load limiter is still
better than wearing no seat belt at all;
however, if the seat belt pretensioners and
load limiters are not replaced, the risk of
injury in a collision will increase.
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
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