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about children and Advanced Airbags
<=> page 137 .
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Ad-
vanced Airbag System, make certain that all chil-
dren, especially those 12 years and younge r, a l-
ways ride in the back seat properly restrained for
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous
place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the
safest place for a child in a forward-facing child
safety seat .
It
can be a very dangerous place for
a n infant or a child in a rearward-fac ing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been certified to comply with the requirements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standa rd (FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor
Vehicle Safety Standa rd (CMVSS) 208 as applica-
ble at the t ime your veh icle was ma nufact ured.
Accord ing to requirements,
the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger side has been
certified for "suppression" for infants of about
12 month old and younger and for "low risk de-
ployment" for children aged 3 to 6 years old (as
defined in the standard) .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light in the instru-
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off
by the electronic control unit.
Each time yo u switch on the ignition, the
PAS·
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
-will stay on if there is a sma ll child or chi ld re -
straint on the front passenge r seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu -
pied by an adult as reg istered by the weight-
sensing mat
c:> page 12
7,
Monitoring the Ad -
vanced Airbag System.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on
when the contro l unit detects a tota l weight on
the front passenger seat that requi res the front
~
airbag to be turned off .
......
"'
~
If the total weight on the front passenge r seat is
......
8
more than that of a typical 1 year-old child but
:::,
00
Airb a g sys tem
less than the weight of a sma ll adult, the front
airbag on the passenger side can dep loy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come
on). If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passenger
s ide has not been turned off by the electronic
control unit and can deploy if the contro l unit
senses an impact that meets the conditions stor-
ed in its memo ry.
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed
c:>
page
139), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on in the
instrument cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not
deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does
not illuminate and stay lit) even if a small adu lt
or teenager, or a passenger who is not s itting up-
right w ith their back against a non-recl ined back-
rest with the ir feet on the vehicle floor in front of
the seat is on the front passenger seat
c:> page 101, Proper seating position for the driv-
er.
If the front passenge r a irbag deploys, the Feder -
al Standard requi res the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment crit eria to reduce the risk of in-
jury throug h interact ion w it h t he airbag. "Low
risk" deploymen t occurs in t hose crashes t ha t
take place at lowe r dece lerations as defined in
the e lectronic control unit
c:> page 128, PASSEN-
GER AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remembe r, a ch ild safety sea t or infan t
carr ier installed on t he front seat may be st ruck
and knocked out of positio n by the rapidly inflat -
ing passenger's airbag in a frontal coll ision . The
airbag could greatly red uce the effectiveness of
the child restraint and even seriously injure the
child during inflation .
IJJ,,
119
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