Safety system of your vehicle
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 ...........................................................2-5
Front Seats .........................................................................2-6
Rear Seats.........................................................................2-12
Head Restraints ...............................................................2-16
Seat warmers ...................................................................2-20
Seat belts ..............................................................2-23 Seat Belt Safety Precautions .......................................2-23
Seat Belt Warning Light ................................................2-24
Seat Belt Restraint System...........................................2-26
Additional Seat Belt Safety Precautions ...................2-33
Care of Seat Belts...........................................................2-35 Child restraint system (CRS) ..............................2-36
Children Always in the Rear .........................................2-36
Selecting a Child Restraint System (CRS) .................2-37
Installing a Child Restraint System (CRS)..................2-39
Air bag -
Advanced supplemental restraint system ........2-47 Where Are the Air Bags? ..............................................2-49
How Does the Air Bag System Operate?..................2-53
What to Expect After an Air Bag Inflates ................2-57
Occupant Classification System (OCS).......................2-58
Why Didn't My Air Bag Go Off in a Collision? ........2-63
SRS Care ............................................................................2-68
Additional Safety Precautions .....................................2-69
Air Bag Warning Labels .................................................2-70
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
2-2
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. Larger children should usea 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 tooclose 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 offthe road or their hands off the wheel
to focus on activities other than driv-
ing. To reduce your risk of distractionor getting into an accident:
II
MM PPOO RRTTAA NN TT SS AA FFEE TT YY PP RR EECCAA UU TTIIOO NNSS
Safety system of your vehicle
2-6
Safety system of your vehicle
Seat belts
Always fasten your seat belt before
starting any trip.
At all times, passengers should sit
upright and be properly restrained.
Infants and small children must be
restrained in appropriate child restraint
systems. Adults and children who
have outgrown a booster seat must be
restrained using the seat belts.
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'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
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 anaccident.
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
2-9
Safety system of your vehicle
2
Seat cushion height
To change the height of the seat cushion:
Push down on the lever severaltimes, to lower the seat cushion.
Pull up on the lever several times, to raise the seat cushion.
Power adjustment
(for driver's seat, if equipped)
The front seat can be adjusted by
using the control switches located on
the outside of the seat cushion. Before
driving, adjust the seat to the proper
position so that you can easily control
the steering wheel, foot pedals and
controls on the instrument panel. To prevent damage to the seats:
Always stop adjusting the seats
when the seat has been adjust-
ed as far forward or rearward as
possible.
Do not adjust the seats longer than necessary when the vehicle
is turned off. This may result in
unnecessary battery drain.
Do not operate two or more seats at the same time. This mayresult in an electrical malfunc-tion.
NOTICE
NEVER allow children in the
vehicle unattended. The power
seats are operable when the
vehicle is turned off.
WARNING OAE036004
2-20
Safety system of your vehicle
Seat Warmers
Front seat warmers
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.
People taking medication that
can cause drowsiness orsleepiness.
WARNING
NEVER place anything on the
seat that insulates against heatwhen 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
2-23
Safety system of your vehicle
2
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.
SSEE AA TT BB EELLTT SS
Seat belts must be used by ALL
passengers whenever the vehi-
cle is moving. Take the followingprecautions when adjusting andwearing seat belts:
ALWAYS properly restrain
children under age 13 in therear seats.
(Continued)
WARNING
(Continued)
NEVER allow children to ride
in the front passenger seat. If
a child age 13 or older must be
seated in the front seat, move
the seat as far back as possi-
ble and properly restrain themin 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.
Do not wear the shoulder belt
under your arm or behind your
back.
Always wear both the shoul-
der portion and lap portion ofthe lap/shoulder belt.
Do not use the seat belt if it is
twisted. A twisted seat belt
will not protect you properlyin an accident.
(Continued)
(Continued)
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.
No modifications or additions
should be made by the user
which will either prevent the
seat belt adjusting devices
from operating to remove
slack, or prevent the seat belt
assembly from being adjusted
to remove slack.
2-28
Safety system of your vehicle
Release the button to lock the
anchor into position. Try sliding the
height adjuster to make sure that it
has locked into position.Rear Seat Belt – Passenger's 3-point system with convertible
locking retractor
This type of seat belt combines the
features of both an emergency locking
retractor seat belt and an automatic
locking retractor seat belt. Convertible
retractor type seat belts are installed inthe rear seat positions to help accom-modate the installation of child
restraint systems. Although a convert-
ible retractor is also installed in thefront passenger seat position, NEVER
place any infant/child restraint system
in the front seat of the vehicle.
To fasten your seat belt:
Pull the seat belt out of the retractor
and insert the metal tab into the buck-
le. There will be an audible "click"
when the tab locks into the buckle.
When not securing a child restraint,
the seat belt operates in the same way
as the driver's seat belt (Emergency
Locking Retractor Type). It automati-cally adjusts to the proper length only
after the lap belt portion of the seat
belt is adjusted manually so that it fits
snugly across your hips.
When the seat belt is fully extended
from the retractor to allow the installa-
tion of a child restraint system, the
seat belt operation changes to allow
the belt to retract, but not to extend
(Automatic Locking Retractor Type).
Refer to the "Using a Child Restraint
System" section in this chapter.
2-33
Safety system of your vehicle
2
Additional Seat Belt Safety Precautions
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 line
so that it fits snugly and as low as pos-
sible across the hips, not across theabdomen.
Seat belt use and children
Infant and small children
Most countries have child restraint
laws which require children to travel
in approved child restraint devices,
including booster seats. The age atwhich seat belts can be used instead
of child restraints differs among
countries, so you should be aware of
the specific requirements in your
country, and where you are travel-
ling. Infant and child restraints must
be properly placed and installed in a
rear seat. For more information refer
to the "Child Restraint Systems" sec-
tion in this chapter.Small children are best protected from
injury in an accident when properly
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 certifying that it meets
Safety Standards of your country. The
restraint must be appropriate for your
child’s height and weight. Check the
label on the child restraint for this infor-
mation. Refer to the "Child Restraint
Systems" section in this chapter.ALWAYS properly restrain infants
and small children in a child
restraint appropriate for the
child’s height and weight.
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
A pregnant woman or a
patient is more vulnerable to
any imapcts on the abdomenduring an abrupt stop or acci-
dent. If you are in an accident
while pregnant, we recom-
mend you consult your doc-
tor.
(Continued)
(Continued)
To reduce the risk of serious
injury or death to an unborn
child during an accident,
pregnant women should
NEVER place the lap portion
of the seat belt above or overthe area of the abdomen
where the unborn child islocated.
WARNING