Before You Drive Away; Pedal Adjustment Facility; Seats/Seat Belts/Harness - Caterham Seven Owner's Handbook Manual

Before you drive away

Pedal adjustment facility

On some models the pedals may be adjusted to
suit the driver. Please contact your Caterham
dealer or local agent for details, (Note: not all cars
have this facility).

Seats/seat belts/harness

Forward/backward adjustment
Lift the seat adjustment lever up to release the
catch enabling the seat to slide back or forward.
Ensure the seat is locked in position before driving
off.
It is often much easier to adjust the seat whilst sat
in the vehicle.
WARNING!
DO NOT adjust the seat while the car is in motion.
Head restraints
Head restraints are designed to restrain rearward
movement of the head in the event of an accident
or sudden stop.
WARNING!
Never drive the car with the head restraints
removed.
Seat belt safety
The seat belts supplied with your car are intended
for use by adult sized occupants and must be used
by one occupant ONLY. Seat belts are lifesaving
equipment and are required by law to be worn at all
times whilst in a vehicle. In a collision, unrestrained
passengers can be thrown around inside, or
possibly thrown out of the car, resulting in injury to
themselves and to other occupants.
ENSURE that the
strapped in at all times.
• ALWAYS adjust seat belts to eliminate any
slack in the webbing. DO NOT slacken the
webbing by pulling the belt away from the body
– to be fully effective, the seat belt must remain
in full contact with the body at all times.
• ALWAYS fit the lap strap across the pelvis
(never across the abdomen), and ensure that
the diagonal strap passes across the chest,
without slipping off the shoulder, or pressing
against the neck.
passenger is securely
• DO NOT fit more than one person into a belt,
or use a seat belt that is twisted or obstructed
in any way that could impede its smooth
operation.
• DO NOT wear seat belts over hard or fragile
items in clothing, such as pens, keys,
spectacles etc.
• DO NOT allow a baby or infant to be carried on
the lap. The force of a crash can increase
effective body weight by as much as 30 times,
making it impossible to hold on to the child.
• DO NOT allow foreign matter to enter the seat
belt buckles as this can render the buckles
inoperative.
• Pregnant women should ask their doctor for
advice about the safest way to wear seat belts.
Caring for seat belts
Regularly inspect the belt webbing for signs of
fraying, cuts and wear, also paying particular
attention to the condition of the fixing points and
adjusters.
Care should be taken to avoid contamination of the
webbing from the effects of polish, oil and
chemicals (see 'Cleaning & car care').
Three tests for checking seat belts
1) With the seat belt fastened, give the webbing
near the buckle a quick upward pull – the buckle
should remain securely locked!
2) With the seat belt unfastened, unreel the
webbing to the limit of its travel. Check that
unreeling is free from snatches and snags.
3) With the webbing half unreeled, hold the tongue
plate and give it a quick forward pull – the
mechanism must lock automatically and prevent
any further unreeling!
WARNING!
Always replace a seat belt assembly that has
withstood the strain of a severe vehicle impact, or
one where the webbing shows signs of fraying.
Harnesses
A multi-point harness holds the driver firmly in the
seat at all times (unlike a seatbelt which 'locks' on
impact only). Aside from the increased safety
benefit and being held more securely in extreme
circumstances such as a track day driving, a
harness will remove the tendency for the driver to
brace themselves in corners using the steering
wheel, with better control of the car as a result.
The lap strap is engaged first, ensuring that it is
adjusted so that it sits across the lap at the lowest
point. It should tighten enough that it requires effort
to engage. Shoulder straps are then engaged into
13