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Advanced front airbag system and children
Your veh icle is equipped with a front "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance w ith United States
Federa
l
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time
your veh icle was manufactured.
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle has
been certified to meet the "low-risk" require
-
ments for 3- and 6-year old children on the pas-
senger side and small adults on the driver side.
The low risk deployment criteria are intended to
reduce the risk of injury through interaction with
the airbag that can occur, for example, by being
too close to the steering wheel and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates. In addition, the
system has been certified to comply with the
"s uppress ion
"
req uirements of the Safety Stand-
a rd, to turn off the front ai rbag for infants up to
12 months who are restrained on the front pas-
senger seat in child restraints that are listed in
the Standard.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Ad·
vanced Airbag system, all children, especially
those 12 years and younger, should always ride
in the back seat properly restra ined 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
larger child in a rearward -facing seat.
The vehicle's Advanced Airbag System has a
ca-
pac itive passenger detect io
n
system in the front
passenger seat cush ion that can detect the pres-
ence of a baby or a child in a ch ild restraint sys-
tem on this seat
.
The capacit ive passenger detection system regis-
ters the changes that result in an electrical fie ld
when a ch ild, a child restra int, and a baby blanket
are on the front passenge
r
seat. The change in
the measured capacitance due to the presence of
a child, a child restraint, and a baby blanket on
the front passenger seat is related to the child
restraint system resting on the seat. The meas-
ured capacitance of a child restraint system var-
Ch ild
safety
ies depending on the type of system and specific
make and mode
l.
The elect rical capac itance of the various types,
makes, and models of chi ld restra ints specified
by the U.S.National Highway Traff ic Safety Ad-
ministration (NHTSA) in the relevant safety
standard are stored in the Advanced Airbag Sys-
tem control unit together with the capacitances
typ ical of infants and a 1-year old child. When a
child restraint is used on the front passenger
seat w it
h
a typical 1 year-old infant, the Ad-
vanced Airbag System compares the capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenge
r
detection
system with the data stored in the electronic con-
t rol unit.
Child restraints and Advanced front airbag
system
Regardless of the ch ild restraint that you use,
make sure that it has been certified
t
o meet Safe-
ty Standards and has been cert ified by its manu
-
facturer for use w ith an airbag
.
Always be sure
that the child rest raint is properly installed at
one of the rear seating positions
.
If in exception-
al circumstances you must use it on the front
passenge
r
seat, carefu lly read a
ll
of the informa-
tion on child safety and Advanced Airbags and
heed all of the applicable
WARNINGS.
Make cer
-
tain that the chi ld and child restraint are correct-
ly recognized by the capac itive passenger detec-
t ion system in the front passenger seat, that the
front passenger a irbag is turned off, and that the
airbag status is always correctly signaled by the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light
.
Many types and models of child restra ints have
been available over the years, new models are
in-
troduced regu larly incorporating new and im-
proved designs and older models a re take
n
out of
production. Child restra ints are
not
standa rdized.
Child res
t
ra ints of the same type typically have
different weights and sizes and different "foot-
prints", the size and shape of the bottom of the
child restraint that sits on th
e
seat, when they
are installed on a vehicle seat. These d ifferences
make it virtually impossib le to certify compliance
with the requirements for advanced a irbags w ith
each and every child restra int that has ever been
..,.
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