Front Seat Belt Pretensioner And Load Limiting Systems - Mazda 2009 CX-9 Owner's Manual

CX-9_8Z66-EA-08F_Edition3 Page37
Tuesday, March 31 2009 1:50 PM
Front Seat Belt Pretensioner
and Load Limiting Systems
For optimum protection, the driver and
front passenger seat belts are equipped
with pretensioner and load limiting
systems. For both these systems to work
properly you must wear the seat belt
properly.
Pretensioners:
The front seat belt retractors remove slack
quickly as the air bags are expanding.
For deployment details, refer to the SRS
Air Bag Deployment Criteria (page 2-60).
In addition, the pretensioner system for
the front passenger, like the front
passenger air bag, is designed to only
deploy in accordance with the total seated
weight on the front passenger seat. Any
time the air bags and seat belt
pretensioners have fired they must be
replaced. For details, refer to the driver
and front passenger occupant
classification system (page 2-63).
Load limiter:
The load limiting system releases belt
webbing in a controlled manner to reduce
belt force on the occupant's chest. While
the most severe load on a seat belt occurs
in frontal collisions, the load limiter has
an automatic mechanical function and can
activate in any accident mode with
sufficient occupant movement.
Even if the pretensioners have not fired,
the load limiting function must be
checked by an Authorized Mazda Dealer.
Form No.8Z66-EA-08F
Black plate (37,1)
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
WARNING
Wear seat belts only as recommended
in this owner's manual:
Incorrect positioning of the driver and
front passenger seat belts is
dangerous. Without proper
positioning, the pretensioner and
load limiting systems cannot provide
adequate protection in an accident
and this could result in serious injury.
For more details about wearing seat
belts, refer to "Fastening the seat
belts" (page 2-23).
Have your seat belts changed
immediately if the pretensioner or load
limiter has been expended:
One or both front air bags may
deploy, and the corresponding
pretensioner(s) may also deploy at
the same time. Like the air bags, the
seat belt pretensioners will only
function once. While it is safer to use
a post-crash (a seat belt that was
used in an accident) than no seat belt
at all, using a seat belt with an
expended pretensioner or load limiter
loaded reduces the safety available to
you. If the seat belt pretensioners are
not replaced, the risk of injury in a
collision will increase. Expended seat
belt pretensioners and air bags must
be replaced after any collision which
caused them to deploy. Additionally,
the load limiter will only limit loads
on the chest once in a collision and
this is another reason to have the
front seat belts inspected. Always
have an Authorized Mazda Dealer
inspect the seat belt pretensioners
and air bags after any collision.
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