Wearing Seat Belts - Mercedes-Benz S 350 Owner's Manual

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Wearing seat belts

Wearing seat belts
G
Risk of injury
A seat belt which is not worn correctly, or
which has not been engaged in the seat belt
buckle correctly, cannot perform its intend-
ed protective function. Under certain cir-
cumstances this could even cause severe or
fatal injuries.
Make sure that all occupants – in particular,
pregnant women – wear their seat belts cor-
rectly at all times:
The seat belt must pass closely over
your body and must not be twisted. You
should therefore avoid wearing bulky
clothing (e.g. a winter coat). The shoul-
der belt section must be routed across
the middle of your shoulder – on no ac-
count across your neck or under your
arm – and pulled tight against your up-
per body. The lap belt must always pass
across your lap as low down as possible,
i.e. over your hip joints – not across your
stomach or lower abdomen. If neces-
sary, tighten the belt strap by pulling it
down slightly and retighten in the direc-
tion of the inertia reel.
274
Do not route the belt strap over sharp-
edged or fragile objects, especially if
these are located on or in your clothing,
e.g. spectacles, pens, keys, etc. The
seat belt strap could be damaged and
tear in an accident and you or other ve-
hicle occupants could be injured.
Only one person should use each seat
belt at any one time. Never carry chil-
dren on your lap, since the child can
then no longer be restrained in the event
of an accident, braking or a sudden
change in direction, which could result
in severe or fatal injuries to the child and
other occupants.
Persons less than 1.50 m tall cannot
wear the seat belts correctly. For this
reason, secure persons less than 1.50 m
tall in specially designed, suitable re-
straint systems.
Children less than 1.50 m tall or under
12 years of age cannot wear the seat
belts properly. Therefore, always secure
these children in suitable child restraint
systems on suitable vehicle seats
( page 46). Follow the manufacturer's
installation instructions when fitting the
child restraint system.
Do not secure any objects with a seat
belt if the seat belt is being used by one
of the vehicle's occupants.
G
Risk of injury
A seat belt only offers its intended degree of
protection if the backrest is positioned as
close to the vertical as possible and the oc-
cupant is sitting upright. Avoid seat posi-
tions that do not allow the seat belt to be
routed correctly ( page 259). Position the
backrest as close to the vertical as possible.
Do not drive with the backrest reclined too
far back.