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142
S a fet y belt s
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restr aint
properly ¢
page 58, Seats and storage .
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright pos ition and securely
latched in place before using the belt ¢ .&,.
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even-
ly across the chest and pelvis ¢ .&, .
.,. Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
you r seat until you hea r it latch securely
¢ fig. 148.
.,. Pull on the be lt to ma ke s ure th at it is se-
curely latched in the buckle .
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is eq uipped with an automat-
ic belt retractor on the shoulder be lt . This fea-
ture locks the be lt when the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing hard bra king and in an accident.
The belt may also lock when you d rive up or
down a steep hill or through a sharp curve.
During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equippe d wit h a be lt pre-
tensioner that helps to tigh t en the safety bel t
and remove slack when the pretensioner is ac-
tivated. The function of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light ¢
page 20 .
Switchable locking feature
Every sa fety belt excep t the one on t he dr iver
seat is eq uipped wit h a switchable locking fea -
ture that
must
be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat . Be sure to
read the important information abo ut this
feature
¢page 177.
A
WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
¢
page 142, Safety belt position .
- Safety belts offe r optimum protection
only when the seatback is up right and
-
be lts are properly posit ioned on the
body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to wh ich the center rear safety
be lt is attached is securely latched when-
ever the rea r center safety belt is being
used. If the backrest is not secure ly
latched, t he passenger will move for-
ward with the backrest dur ing sudd en
bra king, in a sudden maneuver and es pe-
cially in a crash .
- Never attach the safety be lt to t he buck-
le for an ot her sea t . Attac hing the belt to
the wrong buckle will redu ce safety be lt
effec t iveness and can cause serio us per -
sonal injury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrain-
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
be lt itself when it moves from the stro n-
ger parts of the body into critical areas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the convertible locking re-
tractor when you are secu ring a child
safety seat in the vehicle
c:>
page 179 .
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 149
Safety belt pos it ion
Standard features on your veh icle help you ad -
just the pos ition of the safety be lt to match
you r body size.
- be lt height adjustment for the front seats,
- automatic belt height adjustment for the
rear seats .
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