Toyota RAV4 EE Owner's Manual page 120

110
OCCUPANT RESTRAINT SYSTEMS
CAUTION
The SRS front airbag system is de-
D
signed only as a supplement to the
primary protection of the driver and
front passenger seat belt systems.
The driver and front passenger can
be killed or seriously injured by the
inflating airbags if they do not wear
the available seat belts properly.
During sudden braking just before
a collision, an unrestrained driver
or front passenger can move for-
ward into direct contact with or
close proximity to the airbag which
may then deploy during the colli-
sion. To ensure maximum protection
in an accident, the driver and all
passengers in the vehicle must
wear their seat belts properly. Wear-
ing a seat belt properly during an
accident reduces the chances of
death or serious injury or being
thrown out of the vehicle. For
instructions and precautions con-
cerning the seat belt system, see
"Seat belts" on page 99 in this
Section.
Improperly seated and/or restrained
D
infants and children can be killed
or seriously injured by the deploy-
ing airbags. An infant or child who
is too small to use a seat belt
should be properly secured using a
child restraint system.
strongly recommends that all in-
fants and children be placed in the
rear seat of the vehicle and proper-
ly restrained. The rear seat is the
safest for infants and children. For
instructions concerning the installa-
tion of a child restraint system, see
"Child restraint" on page 137 in
this Section.
RAV4_EE
Do not turn off the passenger air-
D
bag manual on−off switch except
when the rear−facing child restraint
system is installed on the front
passenger seat.
When the passenger airbag manual
D
on−off switch is turned off, the
front passenger airbag will not in-
flate in a collision and turning off
the front passenger airbag can re-
duce the occupant protection which
your vehicle safety systems can
provide to you in certain accidents
and increase the likelihood of death
or serious injuries.
The SRS front airbags are designed to
deploy in severe (usually frontal) colli-
sions where the magnitude and duration
of the forward deceleration of the ve-
hicle exceeds the designed threshold
level.
The SRS front airbags will deploy in the
event of an impact that exceeds the set
threshold level (the level of force corre-
sponding to an approximately 20 − 30
km/h [12 − 18 mph] frontal collision with
a fixed wall that does not move or de-
form).
However, this threshold velocity will be
considerably higher if the vehicle strikes
an object, such as a parked vehicle or
sign pole, which can move or deform on
impact, or if the vehicle is involved in an
Toyota
underride collision (e.g. a collision in
which the front of the vehicle "underrides",
or goes under, the bed of a truck, etc.).
It is possible that in some collisions
where the forward deceleration of the ve-
hicle is very close to the designed thresh-
old level, the SRS front airbags and the
seat belt pretensioners may not activate
together.
Always wear your seat belts properly.
Finish