unexpectedly opening your doors.

Your Vehicle's Safety Features

Head restraints are properly adjusted (see page 13).

Both doors are closed and locked (see page 10).

All cargo is properly stored or secured (see page 128).

The rest of this section gives more detailed information about how you can maximize your safety.

Remember, however, that no safety system can prevent all injuries or deaths that can occur in severe crashes, even when seat belts are properly worn and the airbags deploy.

Pre-Drive Safety Checklist To make sure you and your passengers get the maximum protection from your vehicle's safety features, check the following each time before you drive away:

All adults, and children who have outgrown child safety seats, are wearing their seat belts and wearing them properly (see page 14).

Any infant or small child is properly restrained in a child seat in the back seat (see page 19).

Front seat occupants are sitting as far back as possible from the steering wheel and dashboard (see page 11).

Seat-backs are upright (see page 12).

Driver and Passenger Safety

Main MenuTable of ContentsstProtecting Adults

Introduction The following pages provide instructions on how to properly protect the driver and other adult occupants.

These instructions also apply to children who have outgrown child seats and are large enough to wear lap/shoulder belts. (See page 35 for important additional guidelines on how to properly protect larger children.)

1. Close and Lock the Doors After everyone has entered the vehicle, be sure the doors are closed and locked.

Your vehicle has a door monitor light on the

instrument panel to indicate when a specific door is not tightly closed.

For safety, locking the doors reduces the chance of a passenger, especially a child, opening a door while the vehicle is moving and accidentally falling out. It also reduces the chance of someone being thrown out of the vehicle during a crash.

For security, locked doors can prevent an outsider from unexpectedly opening a door when you come to a stop.

See page 72 for how to lock the doors.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Main MenuTable of Contentsst2. Adjust the Front Seats

To reduce the chance of injury, wear your seat belt properly, sit upright with your back against the seat, and move the seat as far back as possible from the steering wheel while still maintaining full control of the car. Also make sure your front seat passenger moves their seat as far to the rear as possible.

Any driver who sits too close to the steering wheel is at risk of being seriously injured or killed by striking the steering wheel or being struck by an inflating airbag during a crash.

Protecting Adults

Sitting too close to an airbag can result in serious injury or death if the airbags inflate.

Always sit as far back from the airbags as possible.

Most shorter drivers can get far enough away from the steering wheel and still reach the pedals. However, if you are concerned about sitting too close, we recommend that you investigate whether some type of adaptive equipment may help.

Once your seat is adjusted correctly, rock it forward and back to make sure the seat is locked in position.

See page 75 for how to adjust the front seats.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Main MenuTable of ContentsstA front passenger should also adjust the seat-back to an upright position, as far from the dashboard as possible. If the passenger sits too close to the dashboard, they could be injured if the airbag inflates.

Reclining a seat-back so that the shoulder part of the belt no longer rests against an occupant's chest reduces the protective capability of the belt. It also increases the chance of sliding under the belt and being seriously injured in a crash. The farther a seat-back is reclined, the greater the risk of injury.

Reclining the seat-back too far can result in serious injury or death in a crash.

Adjust the seat-back to an upright position and sit well back in the seat.

See page 75 for how to adjust seat- backs.

Protecting Adults

3. Adjust the Seat-Backs

Adjust the driver's seat-back to a comfortable, upright position, leaving ample space between your chest and the airbag cover in the center of the steering wheel. If you sit too close to the steering wheel, you could be injured if the airbag inflates.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Main MenuTable of ContentsstProtecting Adults

Properly adjusted head restraints will help protect you from whiplash and other crash injuries.

See page 77 for how to adjust the head restraints.

Improperly positioning head restraints reduces their effectiveness and you can be seriously injured in a crash.

Make sure head restraints are in place and positioned properly before driving.

4. Adjust the Head Restraints

Before driving, make sure everyone with an adjustable head restraint has properly positioned the head restraint. The restraint should be positioned so the back of the occupant's head rests against the center of the restraint. A taller person should adjust the restraint as high as possible.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Main MenuTable of ContentsstProtecting Adults

5. Fasten and Position the Seat

Belts

Insert the latch plate into the buckle, then tug on the belt to make sure the belt is securely latched. Also check that the belt is not twisted, because a twisted belt can cause serious injuries in a crash.

Driver and Passenger Safety

If necessary, pull up on the belt again to remove any slack from the shoulder part, then check that the belt rests across the center of your chest and over your shoulder. This spreads the forces of a crash over the strongest bones in your upper body.

Improperly positioning the seat belts can cause serious injury or death in a crash.

Make sure all seat belts are properly positioned before driving.

Never place the shoulder portion of a lap/shoulder belt under your arm or behind your back. This could cause very serious injuries in a crash.

Position the lap part of the belt as low as possible across your hips, then pull up on the shoulder part of the belt so the lap part fits snugly. This lets your strong pelvic bones take the force of a crash and reduces the chance of internal injuries.

Main MenuTable of ContentsstProtecting Adults

See page 40 for additional information about your seat belt system and how to take care of your belts.

6. Adjust the Steering Wheel

If your seat belt does not seem to work as it should, it may not protect you in a crash. Anyone using an inoperative seat belt can be seriously injured or killed. No one should sit in a seat with an inoperative seat belt. Have your Honda dealer check the belt as soon as possible.

Adjust the steering wheel, if needed, so that the wheel points toward your chest, not toward your face.

Pointing the steering wheel toward your face decreases the protective capability of the driver's airbag.

See page 64 for how to adjust the steering wheel.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Main MenuTable of ContentsstIn addition, if an occupant is out of position in the front seat, they can be seriously or fatally injured by striking interior parts of the vehicle, or by being struck by an inflating airbag.

Sitting improperly or out of position can result in serious injury or death in a crash.

Always sit upright, well back in the seat, with your feet on the floor.

Remember, to get the best protection from your vehicle's airbags and other safety features, you must sit properly and wear your seat belt properly.

Protecting Adults

7. Maintain a Proper Sitting

Position

After all occupants have adjusted their seats and put on seat belts, it is very important that they continue to sit upright, with their bodies well back in their seats and both feet on the floor, until the car is parked and the engine is off.

Sitting improperly can increase the chance of injury during a crash. For example, if an occupant slouches, lies down, turns sideways, sits forward, leans forward, or puts one or both feet up, their chance of injury during a crash is greatly increased.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Main MenuTable of ContentsstPregnant women should also sit as far back as possible from the steering wheel or dashboard. This will reduce the risk of injuries to both the mother and her unborn child that can be caused by a crash or an inflating airbag.

Each time you have a checkup, ask your doctor if it's okay for you to drive.

Protecting Adults

Additional Safety Precautions

Two people should never use the same seat belt. If they do, they could be very seriously injured in a crash.

Do not put any accessories on seat belts. Devices intended to improve occupant comfort, or reposition the shoulder part of a seat belt, can severely compromise the protective capability of seat belts and increase the chance of serious injury in a crash.

Advice for Pregnant Women

Because protecting the mother is the best way to protect her unborn child, a pregnant woman should always wear a seat belt whenever she drives or rides in a car.

Remember to keep the lap portion of the belt as low as possible across your hips.

CONTINUED

Driver and Passenger Safety

Main MenuTable of ContentsstProtecting Adults

Do not place hard or sharp objects between yourself and an airbag. Carrying hard or sharp objects on your lap, or driving with a pipe or other sharp object in your mouth, can result in injuries if your airbags inflate.

Keep your hands and arms away from the airbag covers. If your hands or arms are close to the SRS covers in the center of the steering wheel and on top of the dashboard, they could be injured if the airbags inflate.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Main MenuTable of ContentsstChildren who are unrestrained or improperly restrained can be seriously injured or killed in a crash.

Any child too small for a seat belt should be properly restrained in a child seat. Larger children should be properly restrained with a seat belt.

Children depend on adults to protect them. However, despite their best intentions, many parents and other adults do not know how to properly protect young passengers.

So if you have children, or if you ever need to drive with a grandchild or other children in your vehicle, be sure to read this section.

Protecting Children

All Children Must Be Restrained Each year, many children are injured or killed in vehicle crashes because they are either unrestrained or not properly restrained. In fact, vehicle accidents are the number one cause of death of children ages 12 and under.

To reduce the number of child deaths and injuries, every state and Canadian province requires that infants and children be restrained whenever they ride in a vehicle.

Any child who is too small to wear a seat belt should be properly restrained in a child seat. (See page 23.)

Larger children should always be restrained with a seat belt. (See page 35.)

Driver and Passenger Safety

Main MenuTable of ContentsstProtecting Children

Children Should Sit in the Back Seat According to accident statistics, children of all ages and sizes are safer when they are restrained in the back seat, not the front seat. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that all children ages 12 and under ride in the back seat, properly restrained.

In the back seat, children are less likely to be injured by striking hard interior vehicle parts during a collision or hard braking. Also, children cannot be injured by an inflating airbag when they ride in the back.

Driver and Passenger Safety

The Passenger's Airbag Poses Serious Risks to Children Airbags have been designed to help protect adults in a severe frontal collision. To do this, the passenger's airbag is quite large, and it inflates with tremendous speed.

Infants Never put a rear-facing child seat in the front seat of a vehicle equipped with a passenger's airbag. If the airbag inflates, it can hit the back of the child seat with enough force to kill or very seriously injure an infant.

Small Children Placing a forward-facing child seat in the front seat of a vehicle equipped with a passenger's airbag can be hazardous. If the vehicle seat is too far forward, or the child's head is thrown forward during a collision, an inflating airbag can strike the child