HONDA ODYSSEY 1998 Owner's Manual

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 a
back seat, not the front seat. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration recommends that all children ages 12 and under ride in a
back seat, properly restrained.
In a 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.
The Passenger's Airbag Poses
Serious Risks to Children
Airbags have been designed to help protect adults in a severe frontalcollision. 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
with enough force to kill or very seriously injure a small child.
Larger Children

Children who have outgrown child
seats are also at risk of being injured
or killed by an inflating passenger

airbag. Whenever possible, larger

children should sit in a back seat,
properly restrained with a seat belt. (See page 35 for important
information about protecting larger
children.)
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Protecting Children

(U.S. models only)
To remind you of the passenger airbag hazards, and that children
must be properly restrained in a
back seat, your vehicle has warning
labels on the dashboard and on the driver's and front passenger's visors.
Please read and follow the
instructions on these labels. If You Must Drive with Several
Children

Your vehicle has two rows of back seats where children can be properly

restrained.

If you ever have to carry a group of
children (when car-pooling for
example), and a child must ride in
front: Place the largest child in the front
seat, provided the child is large
enough to wear a seat belt
properly (see page 35). Move the vehicle seat as far to the

rear as possible (see page 10).
Have the child sit upright and well
back in the seat (see page 16 ). Make sure the seat belt is properly
positioned and secured (see page
13).

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Protecting Children

If a Child Requires Close
Attention
Many parents say they prefer to put
an infant or small child in the front
passenger seat so they can watch the child, or because the child requires

attention.

Placing a child in the front seat
exposes them to hazards from the
airbag, and paying close attention to
a child distracts the driver from the
important tasks of driving, creating serious safety risks.
If a child requires physical attention
or frequent visual contact, westrongly recommend that another
adult ride with the child in a back seat. A back seat is far safer for a
child than the front. Additional Safety Precautions
Use childproof door locks to
prevent children from opening the
doors. Using this feature will

prevent children from opening the doors and accidentally falling out (see page 72 ).

Use the main power window
switch to prevent children from opening the rear windows. Using

this feature will prevent children
from playing with the windows,
which could expose them to
hazards or distract the driver (see
page 82 ). Do not leave children alone in your

vehicle. Leaving children without

adult supervision is illegal in most states and can be very hazardous.
For example, infants and small
children left in a vehicle on a hot day can die from heatstroke. And
children left alone with the key in
the ignition can accidentally set
the vehicle in motion, possibly
injuring themselves or others.
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Protecting Children

General Guidelines for Using
Child Seats
The following pages give general guidelines for selecting and installing
child seats for infants and small
children.
Selecting a Child Seat
To provide proper protection, a child seat should meet three
requirements:

1.The child seat should meet safety
standards. The child seat should
meet Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 213 (FMVSS 213)
or Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards. Look for the
manufacturer's statement of
compliance on the box and seat.
2. The child seat should be of the
proper type and size to fit the child.
Infants: Children up to about one
year old should be restrained in a rear-facing, reclining child seat. Only
rear-facing seats provide the support
an infant needs to protect their head,
neck, and back. See page 27 for
additional information on protecting
infants. Small Children: A child who is too
large for a rear-facing child seat, and who can sit up without support, should be restrained in a forward-
facing child seat. See page 31 for
additional information on protecting small children.

CONTINUED

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Protecting Children

3. The child seat should fit the vehicle seating position (or
positions) where it will be used.
Due to variations in the design of
child seats, vehicle seats, and seat
belts, all child seats will not fit all
vehicle seating positions.
However, Acura is confident that oneor more child seat models can fit and
be properly installed in all
recommended seating positions in
your vehicle. Whenever possible, we recommend
that parents test a child seat in thespecific vehicle seating position (or
positions) where they intend to use the seat before making a purchase. If
a previously purchased child seatdoes not fit, you may need to buy a
different one that will fit.
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Protecting Children

Placing a Child Seat
This page briefly summarizes Acura's recommendations on where to placerear-facing and forward-facing childseats in your vehicle.
Front Passenger's Seat

Infants: Never in the front seat, due to the passenger airbag hazard.

Small children: Not recommended,
due to the passenger's airbag
hazard. If a small child must ride in front, move the vehicle seat to
the rear-most position and secure a front-facing child seat with theseat belt (see page 32).
Back Seats
Infants: Recommended positions.
Secure a rear-facing child seat
with the seat belt (see page 28).

Small children: Recommended
positions. Secure a front-facingchild seat with the seat belt (see
page 32).
Driver and Passenger Safety
Airbags Pose Serious
Risks to Children
The passenger's airbag inflates
with enough force to kill or seriously injure an infant in a
rear-facing child seat.
A small child in a forward-facing child seat is also at risk. If the
vehicle seat is too far forward, or the child's head is thrown
forward during a collision, an
inflating airbag can kill or seriously injure the child.
If a small child must ride in the
front, follow the instructions
provided.
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Protecting Children

Installing a Child Seat

After selecting a proper child seat, and a good position to install the seat,
there are three main steps in
installing the seat:

1. Secure the child seat to the vehicle
with a seat belt. All child seats
must be secured to the vehicle
with the lap belt or the lap part of a lap/shoulder belt. A child whose
seat is not properly secured to the
vehicle can be endangered in a crash. See pages 28 and 30 for
instructions on how to secure child seats in this vehicle.
2. Make sure the child seat is firmly
secured. After installing a child

seat, push and pull the seat
forward and from side to side to
verify that it is secure. To provide security during normal
driving maneuvers, as well as during
a collision, we recommend that
parents secure a child seat as firmly
as possible.

However, a child seat does not need
to be "rock solid." In some vehicles or seating positions, it may be
difficult to install a child seat so that
it does not move at all. Some side-to- side or forward-and-back movement
can be expected and should not
reduce the child seat's effectiveness.
If the child seat is not secure, try
installing it in a different seating
position, or use a different style of child seat that can be firmly secured
in the desired seating position.
3. Secure the child in the child seat.

Make sure the child is properly
strapped in the child seat
according to the child seat maker's
instructions. A child who is not
properly secured in a child seat can be thrown out of the seat and
be seriously injured in a crash.

Storing a Child Seat
When you are not using a child seat, either remove it and store it in a safe
place, or make sure it is properly secured. An unsecured child seat can
be thrown around the vehicle during a crash or sudden stop and injure
someone.

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Protecting Children

Protecting Infants
Child Seat Type
To provide proper support for a baby's head, neck and back, infants
up to about one year of age must be
restrained in a rear-facing child seat.
Two types of seats may be used: a seat designed exclusively for infants,
or a convertible seat used in the rear-
facing, reclining mode. We recommend that an infant stay in
a rear-facing child seat as long as
possible, until they reach the seat
maker's weight or height limit and are able to sit up without support.
Infant Seat Placement

In this vehicle, a rear-facing child seat can be placed in any seating
position in the back, but not in the
front seat.

Never put a rear-facing child seat in
the front seat. If the passenger's
airbag inflates, it can hit the back of
the child seat with enough force to
kill or seriously injure an infant. If an infant must be closely watched, we
recommend that another adult sit ina back seat with the baby.

Do not put a rear-facing child seat in
a forward-facing position. If an

infant faces forward, they could be
very seriously injured during a
frontal collision.

CONTINUED

Driver and Passenger Safety
Placing a rear-facing child seat
in the front seat can result in
serious injury or death if the
airbags inflate.
Always place a rear-facing child seat in the back seat, not the
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Protecting Children

Installing an Infant Seat With a Lap/
Shoulder Belt

The lap/shoulder belts in the outer back seats have a locking mechanism that must be activated tosecure a child seat.
The following pages provide instructions and tips on how tosecure a rear-facing child seat with
this type of seat belt. See page 30 for how to secure a rear-
facing child seat with the lap belt.
1. With the child seat in the desiredback seating position, route the
belt through the child seataccording to the seat maker's
instructions, then insert the latch
plate into the buckle.

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Protecting Children

2. To activate the lockable retractor, slowly pull the shoulder part of the
belt all the way out until it stops,
then let the belt feed back into the
retractor (you might hear a
clicking noise as the belt retracts).
3. After the belt has retracted, tug on it. If the belt is locked, you will not
be able to pull it out. If you can pull
the belt out, it is not locked and
you will need to repeat these steps. 4. After confirming that the belt is
locked, grab the shoulder part of
the belt near the buckle and pull
up to remove any slack from the
lap part of the belt. Remember, if
the lap part of the belt is not tight,
the child seat will not be secure.
To remove slack, it may help to put weight on the child seat, or
push on the back of the seat while pulling up on the belt.
5. Push and pull the child seat
forward and from side to side to
verify that it is secure enough to
stay upright during normal driving

maneuvers. If the child seat is not

secure, unlatch the belt, allow it to

retract fully, then repeat these
steps.

To deactivate the locking mechanism in order to remove a

child seat, unlatch the buckle,

unroute the seat belt, and let the belt

fully retract.

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