Restraint System
Important: If the vehicle has been in a collision, refer
to
Repairs and Inspections Required After a Collision
for additional information.
Seat belts are the primary means of occupant restraint. Seat belts help to keep
the occupants inside the passenger compartment and to gradually reduce the impact
forces during the following events:
| • | Frontal impact type crashes |
| • | Rear impact type crashes |
| • | Side impact type crashes |
All seat belt retractors have emergency locks. The retractors remain unlocked
during normal operation and under normal driving conditions. The retractors remain
unlocked during normal conditions in order to allow free movement of the upper body
of each occupant. A pendulum locks the seat belt webbing into position. The pendulum
causes a locking bar to engage a cog on the spool of the retractor mechanism when
the following conditions occur:
| • | A rapid extraction of the seat belt webbing from the retractor |
| • | An abrupt change in vehicle speed |
| • | An abrupt change in vehicle direction |
| • | Operation of the vehicle on a steep upgrade |
| • | Operation of the vehicle on a steep downgrade |
This vehicle is also equipped with a supplemental inflatable restraint (SIR)
system. Refer to
SIR System Description and Operation
in SIR.
Front Seat Belt System
The front seat belt system includes a driver and a passenger inflatable restraint
seat belt retractor and buckle. For additional information on seat belt pretensioners,
refer to
SIR System Description and Operation
in
SIR.
The driver seat belt system includes a seat belt switch in the driver seat
buckle which controls a reminder lamp and a tone alarm.
| • | When the driver seat belt is buckled, the driver door is closed, and the
ignition switch is turned ON, the following events will occur: |
| - | The tone alarm will not operate. |
| - | The reminder lamp will not operate. |
| • | When the driver seat belt is not buckled, the driver door is closed, and
the ignition switch is in ON position, the following events will occur: |
| - | The tone alarm will operate for 4 to 8 seconds and then go OFF. |
| - | The fasten safety belt indicator will turn ON for 20 seconds, until
the driver seat belt is buckled. |
Rear Seat Belt System
The rear seat belt system includes the following components:
| • | The rear seat belt retractor is located under the rear shelf trim panel
and is attached to the rear shelf body panel. |
| • | The center rear seat belt buckle and the outer seat belt buckle are located
in the center of the seat cushion. The seat belt buckles are attached to the rear
floor pan. |
Child Seat Restraint System
Caution: A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be seriously injured if the right-front
passengers air bag inflates. This is because the back of a rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the inflating air bag. NEVER use a rear-facing child restraint
in this vehicle. If a forward-facing child restraint is suitable for your child, ALWAYS
move the front passenger seat as far back as it will go and then install the child
restraint. Be sure the child restraint position does not conflict with any additional
requirements provided by the manufacturer. For more information, refer
to the vehicle owners manual and the instruction that came with the child restraint.
The child seat may only be used in a forward facing seating location. The child
seat should be installed and secured according to the manufacturer's directions. If
the child seat has a top strap, the seat will need to be anchored. Passengers should
not be allowed to sit at locations where the seat belts are being used to secure the
child seat.
This seat belt system has an automatic locking (cinch) feature. Use of the
cinch feature is recommended for securing a child seat. The cinch feature is activated
when the seat belt webbing is completely extended from the retractor. The cinch feature
prevents the webbing from extending beyond the position from which it is allowed to
retract. The cinch feature may be cancelled by allowing the webbing to wind back completely
into the retractor. After the cinch feature is cancelled, the webbing will extend
from the retractor.
If a child seat is to be used in the second seat position, a special dealer-installed
anchor must be used in order to anchor the child seat top strap. (This only applies
to the seats designed with the top strap provision and for the vehicles sold in Canada).
In order to ensure the correct top strap angle, the child seat is only to be used
at the seating position for which the top strap anchor is installed.
Fasten Safety Belt Indicator (Red)
The fasten safety belt indicator may only be ON during RUN. The instrument
panel cluster (IPC) illuminates the fasten safety belt indicator under the following
conditions:
| • | The inflatable restraint sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) detects that
the driver seat belt is unbuckled. The IPC receives a Class 2 message from
the SDM requesting illumination. The IPC illuminates the indicator for 20 seconds
and then flashes the indicator for 55 seconds. If the driver seat belt is buckled
anytime during this function, a Class 2 message shall be sent to the IPC to
command the telltale OFF. The SDM also sends a Class 2 message to the IPC in
order to activate an audible warning. |
| • | The IPC performs the displays test at the start of each ignition cycle.
The indicator illuminates for approximately 3 seconds. |
