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Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all ch ildren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways 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 an infant or
a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the Requ ire-
ments of United States Federa l Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup-
pressed") if a child up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for-
ward -facing infant restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front
passenger seat . For a listing of the child re-
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard Qpage 168.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light in the in-
strument panel tells you when the front Ad-
vanced Airbag on the passenger side has bee n
turned off by the electronic control unit.
Each t ime you turn 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 small child or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is oc-
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat
Q
page 156, Monitor-
ing the Advanced Airbag System .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on
when the control un it detects a total weight
on the front passenger seat that requires the
front airbag to be turned off.
Airbag
system
147
If the total weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-o ld
child but less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on). If the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the elect ronic con trol unit
and can deploy if t he contr ol un it senses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory .
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ie r than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed Q page 168), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned 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 illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult or teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitting uprig ht with their back against a
non-reclined back rest w ith their feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the seat is on the front
passenger seat ~ page 128, Proper seating
position for the driver.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard req uires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" dep loyment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury thro ugh interaction with the
airbag . "Low risk" dep loyment occ urs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions
as defined in the electronic control unit
Q
page 156, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carr ier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of posit ion by the rap-
idly inflating passenger's airbag in a frontal
collision . The airbag could greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even
seriously injure the child during inflation.
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