2022 ACURA MDX Owners Manual

56
uuAirbags uSide Airbags
Safe Driving
Side Airbags
The side airbags help protect the torso and pelvis of the driver or a front passenger
during a moderate-to-severe side impact.
The side airbags are housed in the outside
edge of the driver’s and passenger’s seat-
backs.
Both are marked SIDE AIRBAG.
When the sensors detect a moderate-to-
severe side impact, the control unit signals the
side airbag on the impact side to immediately
inflate.
■Housing Locations
1 Side Airbags
Make sure you and your front seat passenger always
sit upright. Leaning into the path of a side airbag can
prevent the airbag from deploying properly and
increases your risk of serious injury.
Do not attach accessories on or near the side airbags.
They can interfere with the proper operation of the
airbags, or hurt someone if an airbag inflates.
Do not cover or replace the front seat-back covers
without consulting a dealer.
Improperly replac ing or covering front seat-back
covers can prevent your si de airbags from properly
deploying during a side impact.
Side airbag deployment is controlled by a pressure
sensor inside each front door . Damage or changes to
the inside or outside of the doors may negatively
affect side airbag deployme nt. Contact an authorized
dealer before ch anging or repairing a front door.
Housing
Location
■Operation
When
inflated
Side
Airbag
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57
uuAirbags uSide Airbags
Safe Driving
■When a side airbag deploys with little or no visible damage
Because the airbag system senses sudden acceleration, a strong impact to the side
of the vehicle’s framework can cause a side airbag to deploy. In such cases, there
may be little or no damage, but the side impact sensors detected a severe enough
impact to deploy the airbag.
■When a side airbag may not deploy, even though visible damage appears
severe
It is possible for a side airbag not to deploy during an impact that results in
apparently severe damage. This can occur when the point of impact was toward the
far front or rear of the vehicle, or when the vehicle’s crushable body parts absorbed
most of the crash energy. In either case , the side airbag would not have been
needed nor provided protection even if it had deployed.
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58
uuAirbags uSide Curtain Airbags
Safe Driving
Side Curtain Airbags
The side curtain airbags help protect the heads of the driver and passengers in the
outer seating positions during a moderate-to -severe side impact. The side curtain
airbags equipped in th is vehicle are also designed to help reduce the likelihood of
partial and complete ejection of vehicle occupants through side windows in crashes,
particularly rollover crashes.
The side curtain airbags are located in the
ceiling above the side windows on both sides
of the vehicle.
The side curtain airbag is designed to deploy
in a rollover or a moderate-to-severe side
impact.
■Housing Locations
1Side Curtain Airbags
To get the best protecti on from the side curtain
airbags, occupants should wear their seat belts
properly and sit upr ight and well back in their seats.
Do not attach any objects to the side windows or roof
pillars as they can interfere with the proper operation
of the side curtain airbags.
If the impact is on the passenger’s side, the
passenger’s side curtain airbag deploys even if there
are no occupants on that side of the vehicle.
If the SRS control unit sens es that your vehicle is
about to rollover, it imme diately deploys both side
curtain airbags and activates the seat belt tensioners
for the front seats and the second row outer seats.
Side Curtain Airbag Storage
■Operation
Deployed Side Curtain Airbag
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Continued59
uuAirbags uAirbag System Indicators
Safe Driving
■When side curtain airbags deploy in a frontal collision
One or both side curtain ai rbags may also inflate in a moderate-to-severe angled
frontal collision.
Airbag System Indicators
If a problem occurs in the airbag system , the SRS indicator will come on and a
message appears on the driver information interface.
■When the power mode is set to ON
The indicator comes on for a few seconds,
then goes off. This te lls you the system is
working properly.
If the indicator comes on at any other time, or
does not come on at all, have the system
checked by a dealer as s oon as possible. If you
don’t, your airbags and seat belt tensioners
may not work properly when they are needed.
■Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) Indicator1 Supplemental Restraint Sy stem (SRS) Indicator
3WARNING
Ignoring the SRS indicator can result in
serious injury or death if the airbag systems
or tensioners do not work properly.
Have your vehicle checked by a dealer as
soon as possible if th e SRS indicator alerts
you to a possible problem.
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uuAirbags uAirbag System Indicators
60
Safe Driving■When the passenger airbag off
indicator comes on
The indicator comes on to alert you that the
passenger’s airbag ha s been turned off.
This occurs if the seat is empty or when the
weight sensors determine that a small child or
infant is on the passenger seat.
Children age 12 or under should always ri de properly restrained in a back seat.
2Child Safety P. 63
If the indicator is on in the event of a cr ash, the passenger’s airbag will not deploy.
The passenger’s knee airbag will not deploy, either.
■Passenger Airbag Off Indicator1 Passenger Airbag Off Indicator
To ensure the passenger is detected properly, confirm
that:
•The occupant is sitting in an upright position,
wearing the seat belt prope rly and the seat back is
not excessively reclined.
•The occupant is not leaning against the door or
center console.
•The occupant’s feet are plac ed on the floor in front
of them.
•There are no objects ha nging from the front
passenger’s seat.
•Only small, lightweight objec ts are in the seat back
pocket.
•No liquid has been spille d on or under the seat.
•There is no child seat or other object pressing
against the rear of the seat or seat back.
•There is no rear passenger pushing or pulling on
the back of the front passenger’s seat.
•There are no objects placed under or beside the
front passenger’s seat . Improperly positioned
objects can interfere with the advanced airbag
sensors.
•The floor mat behind the front passenger’s seat is
hooked to the floor mat anchor. An improperly
placed mat can interfere with the advanced airbag
sensors.
•The head restraint is not contacting the roof.
U.S.
Canada
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61
uuAirbags uAirbag System Indicators
Safe Driving
1Passenger Airbag Off Indicator
The passenger airbag off indicator may come on and
go off periodically if the tota l weight on the seat is
near the airbag cutoff threshold. For a small adult,
depending on physique and posture, the system may
not recognize him/her as an adult and thus deactivate
the passenger’s airbag.
If this occurs, please confirm that the conditions set
forth in the above bullet points on the previous page
are met.
If the above conditions are met and the indicator is
still on, then with the transmission in park, turn the
ignition off and back on.
Have your vehicle checked by a dealer as soon as
possible if:
•All of the above conditions are met, and the
indicator comes on with an adult seated in the
front passenger seat.
•The seat is empty and the indicator is off.
Do not allow an adult passe nger to ride in the front
seat when the indicator is on.
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62
uuAirbags uAirbag Care
Safe Driving
Airbag Care
You do not need to, and should not, perform any maintenance on or replace any
airbag system components yourself. However, you should have your vehicle
inspected by a dealer in the following situations:
■When the airbags have deployed
If an airbag has inflated, th e control unit and other related parts must be replaced.
Similarly, once an automatic seat belt tensioner has been activated, it must be
replaced.
■When the vehicle has been in a moderate-to-severe collision
Even if the airbags did not inflate, have your dealer inspect the following: the driver’s
seat position sensor, weight sensors in the passenger’s seat, seat belt tensioners for
the front seats and second ro w outer seats, and each seat belt that was worn during
the crash.
■Do not remove or modify a front seat without consulting a dealer
This would likely disable or affect the proper operation of the driver’s seat position
sensor or the weight sensors in the passenger ’s seat. If it is necessary to remove or
modify a front seat to accommodate a person with disabilities, contact an Acura
dealer, or for U.S. vehicles, Acura Client Relations at 1-800-382-2238 and for
Canadian vehicles, Acura Client Services at 1-888-9-ACURA-9.
1 Airbag Care
We recommend against the use of salvaged airbag
system components, includi ng the airbag, tensioners,
sensors, and control unit.
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63Continued
Safe Driving
Child Safety
Protecting Child Passengers
Each year, many children are injured or killed in vehicle crashes because they are
either unrestrained or not properly res trained. In fact, vehicle crashes are the
number one cause of death of children ages 12 and under.
To reduce the number of child deaths and injuries, every state, Canadian province
and territory requires that infants and children be properly restrained when they ride
in a vehicle.
Children should sit properly restrained in a rear seat. This is because:
• An inflating front airbag can injure or kill a
child sitting in the front seat.
• A child in the front seat is more likely to
interfere with the driver’s ability to safely
control the vehicle.
• Statistics show that children of all sizes and
ages are safer when they are properly
restrained in a rear seat.1Protecting Child Passengers
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
and Transport Canada recommend that all children
ages 12 and under be properl y restrained in a rear
seat. Some states or provin ces/territories have laws
restricting where ch ildren may ride.
3WARNING
Children who are unrestrained or
improperly restrained can be seriously
injured or killed in a crash.
Any child too small for a seat belt should be
properly restrained in a child seat. A larger
child should be properly restrained with a
seat belt, using a booster seat if necessary.
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