Seat Ibiza Owner's Manual page 59

Seat belt lamp*
Fig. 72 Warning lamp on the instrument pan-
el.
The control lamp illuminates to remind the
driver to fasten his seat belt.
Before starting the vehicle:
Fasten your seat belt securely.
–
Instruct your passengers to fasten their
–
seat belts properly before driving off.
Protect children by using a child seat ac-
–
cording to the child's height and weight.
When the ignition is switched on, the control
lamp in the instrument panel lights up* if

the driver or passenger* have not fastened
their seat belts.
An audible warning signal will sound for a
few seconds if the seat belts are not fastened
as the vehicle drives off and reaches a speed
of more than approximately 25 km/h
Seat belts
(15 mph) or if the seat belts are unfastened
while the vehicle is in motion. The warning
lamp will also flash .
The lamp goes out when the driver and

passenger seat belts are fastened with the ig-
nition switched on.
The protective function of seat belts
Drivers with properly worn seat belts
Fig. 73
will not be thrown forward in the event of sud-
den braking.
Properly worn seat belts hold the occupants
in the proper position. These also help pre-
vent uncontrolled movements that may result
in serious injury and reduce the risk of being
thrown out of the vehicle.
Vehicle occupants wearing their seat belts
correctly benefit greatly from the ability of the
belts to absorb kinetic energy. In addition,
the front part of your vehicle and other pas-
sive safety features (such as the airbag sys-
tem) are designed to absorb the kinetic ener-
gy released in a collision. Taken together, all
these features reduce the releasing kinetic
energy and consequently, the risk of injury.
This is why it is so important to fasten seat
belts before every trip, even when "just driv-
ing around the corner".
Ensure that your passengers wear their seat
belts as well. Accident statistics have shown
that wearing seat belts is an effective means
of substantially reducing the risk of injury
and improving the chances of survival when
involved in a serious accident. Furthermore,
properly worn seat belts improve the protec-
tion provided by airbags in the event of an
accident. For this reason, wearing a seat belt
is required by law in most countries.
Although your vehicle is equipped with air-
bags, the seat belts must be fastened and
worn. The front airbags, for example, are only
triggered in some cases of head-on collision.
The front airbags will not be triggered during
minor frontal or side collisions, rear-end colli-
sions, rollovers or accidents in which the air-
bag trigger threshold value in the control unit
is not exceeded.
Therefore, you should always wear your seat
belt and ensure that all vehicle occupants
have fastened their seat belts properly before
you drive off!
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