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138
S a fet y belt s
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.,. Adjust t he front seat and head restra int
properly ¢
page 53, Seats and storage .
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright pos ition and securely
latched in place befo re using the belt ¢ .&,.
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis
c:>
.&, .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
you r seat until you hea r it latch securely
¢ fig. 136.
.,. Pull on the be lt to make sure that it is se-
curely latched in the buckle .
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped 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 drive 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 tighten the safety belt
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 the dr iver
seat is eq uipped with 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 about this
feature
¢ page 176.
A
WARNING
Imprope rly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
¢
page 138, 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 espe-
cially in a crash .
- Never attach the safety be lt to t he buck-
le for ano t 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 178.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to gett ing
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 1 3 7
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.
- he ight-adjustable front seats.
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