PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION

WARNING:

Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while your vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the child from injury in a crash.

WARNING:

It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or outside of a vehicle. In a crash, people riding in these areas are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a safety belt properly.

WARNING:

Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.

WARNING:

To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit where they can be properly restrained.

WARNING:

All occupants of your vehicle, including the driver, should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided. Failure to properly wear your safety belt could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.

WARNING:

In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a safety belt.

WARNING:

Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific safety belt assembly which is made up of one buckle and one tongue that are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt on the outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm. 2) Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside shoulder. 3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.

WARNING:

When possible, all children 12 years old and under should be properly restrained in a rear seating position. Failure to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.

WARNING:

Safety belts and seats can become hot in a vehicle that has been closed up in sunny weather; they could burn a small child. Check seat covers and buckles before you place a child anywhere near them.

WARNING:

Front and rear seat occupants, including pregnant women, should wear safety belts for optimum protection in an accident.

All seating positions in your vehicle have lap and shoulder safety belts.

All occupants of the vehicle should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided.

The safety belt system consists of: • Lap and shoulder safety belts.

• Shoulder safety belt with automatic locking mode (except driver safety belt).

• Height adjuster at the front outboard seating positions.

• Safety belt pretensioner at the front outboard seating positions.

• Belt tension sensor at the front outboard passenger seating position.

• Safety belt warning light and
chime. See Safety belt warning light and indicator chime later in this chapter.

• Crash sensors and monitoring
system with readiness indicator. See Crash sensors and airbag indicator in the Supplemental Restraint System chapter.

The safety belt pretensioners are designed to activate in frontal, near-frontal and side crashes, and in rollovers. The safety belt pretensioners at the front seating positions are designed to tighten the safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body when activated. This helps increase the effectiveness of the safety belts. In frontal crashes, the safety belt pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the crash is of sufficient severity, together with the front airbags.

• Fastening the safety belts
• Safety belt height adjustment
• Safety belt warning light and indicator chime
• Safety belt-minder
• Child restraint and safety belt maintenance