Caution: To help avoid personal injury from unrepaired crash damage to a restraint
system, perform the seat belt check for each seat belt system. Replace the
seat belt system if there is any doubt about the condition of system components.
Seat belts are the primary means of occupant restraint.
Seat belts help to keep the occupant(s) inside the passenger compartment
and to gradually reduce the impact forces during the following events:
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 seal 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 downgrade |
The seat belts have an automatic locking (cinch) feature. 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.
Use of the cinch feature is recommended for securing a child seat.
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
is unlocked. After the cinch feature is cancelled, the webbing will extend
from the retractor.