seats Acura Integra 2000 Hatchback Owner's Manual

Drive
r an d Passenge r Safet y
This section gives you important information about how to protect
yourself and your passengers. It shows you how to use seat belts
properly. It explains your Supple- mental Restraint System. And it tells
you how to properly restrain infants and children in your car.
Important Safety Precautions.......... 6
Your Car's Safety Features.............. 7

Seat Belts........................................ 8
Airbags........................................... 9

Seats & Seat-Backs...................... 10
Head Restraints........................... 10
Door Locks................................... 10
Pre-Drive Safety Checklist.......... 11

Protecting Adults............................. 12

1. Close and Lock the Doors...... 12
2. Adjust the Front Seats............ 13
3. Adjust the Seat-Backs............. 14
4. Adjust the Head Restraints.... 15 5. Fasten and Position the Seat
Belts...................................... 16

6. Adjust the Steering Wheel..... 17

7. Maintain a Proper Sitting
Position................................. 18

Advice for Pregnant Women...... 19

Additional Safety Precautions.... 19

Protecting Children......................... 21

All Children Must Be
Restrained................................ 21

Children Should Sit in the Back

Seat............................................ 22

The Passenger's Airbag Poses Serious Risks to Children....... 22
If You Must Drive with Several
Children.................................... 24
If a Child Requires Close
Attention................................... 24
Additional Safety Precaution...... 24 General Guidelines for Using
Child Seats................................ 25

Protecting Infants........................ 29
Protecting Small Children.......... 33
Protecting Larger Children........ 37
Using Child Seats with
Tethers...................................... 40

Additional Information About Your

Seat Belts.................................. 42

Seat Belt System Components... 42
Lap/Shoulder Belt....................... 42
Seat Belt Maintenance................ 43
Additional Information About Your

SRS............................................ 45
SRS Components......................... 45

How Your Airbags Work............ 45

How the SRS Indicator Light

Works........................................ 47

SRS Service...................................
47

Additional Safety Precautions.... 48

Carbon Monoxide Hazard.............. 49

Safety Labels.................................... 50

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
Sea t Belt s
For your safety, and the safety of
your passengers, your car is equipped with seat belts in all seating
positions.
Your seat belt system alsoincludes a light on the
instrument panel to remind you and
your passengers to fasten your seat
belts.

Why Wear Seat Belts

Seat belts are the single most
effective safety device for adults and
larger children. (Infants and smaller children must be properly restrained
in child seats.)
Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
though your car has airbags. In addition, most states and all
Canadian provinces require you to
wear seat belts.
When properly worn, seat belts: Keep you connected to the vehicle
so you can take advantage of the
car's built-in safety features.
Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including side and
rear impacts and rollovers. (Your airbag can only be helpful in a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.)
Help keep you from being thrown
against the inside of the vehicle
and against other occupants.
Keep you from being thrown out of the vehicle.
Help keep you in a good position should the airbags ever deploy. A
good position reduces the risk of injury from an inflating airbag, and
allows you to get the best
advantage from the airbag.
Of course, seat belts cannot
completely protect you in every crash. But in most cases, seat belts
can reduce your risk of serious
injury.

What you should do : Always wear

your sea
t belt, and make sure you
wear it properly.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even if you have airbags.

Be sure you and your

passengers always wear seat
belts and wear them properly.

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
Seat s & Seat-Back s
Your car's seats are designed to keep you in a comfortable, uprightposition so you can take fulladvantage of the protection offered
by seat belts and the energy absorbing materials in the seats.
How you adjust your seats and seat-
backs can also affect your safety. For example, sitting too close to thesteering wheel or dashboard
increases the risk of you or your
passenger being injured by striking
the inside of the car, or by an inflating airbag.
Reclining a seat-back too far reduces
the seat belt's effectiveness and
increases the chance that the seat's occupant will slide under the seat
belt in a crash and be seriously

injured.
What you should do: Move the front

seats as far back as possible, and
keep adjustable seat-backs in an upright position whenever the car is

moving.

Hea d Restraint s
Head restraints can help protect you
from whiplash and other injuries. For maximum protection, the back of
your head should rest against the center of the head restraint. Doo
r Lock s
Keeping your doors locked reduces
the chance of being thrown out of
the car during a crash. It also helps
prevent occupants from accidentally opening a door and falling out, and
outsiders from unexpectedly opening
your doors.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
Pre-Driv e Safet y Checklis t
To make sure you and your passengers get the maximumprotection from your car'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 16).
Any infant or small child is
properly restrained in a child seat
in the back seat (see page 21).
Front seat occupants are sitting
upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel and dashboard (see page 13). Seat-backs are upright (see page
14). Head restraints are properly
adjusted (see page 15).
Both doors and the hatch are
closed and locked (see page 12). All cargo is properly stored or
secured (see page 132).
The rest of this section gives more detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.
Remember, however, that no safetysystem can prevent all injuries or
deaths that can occur in severe
crashes, even when seat belts are
properly worn and the airbags deploy.

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Adult s

Introductio n
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 childseats and are large enough to wear
lap/shoulder belts. (See page 37 for
important additional guidelines on
how to properly protect larger children.) 1
. Clos e an d Loc k th e Door s
After everyone has entered the car, be sure the doors and the hatch areclosed and locked.
Your car has a doormonitor light on the
instrument panel to indicate when a specific door is not tightly closed. For safety, locking the doors reduces
the chance that a passenger, especially a child, will open a door
while the car is moving and accidentally fall out. It also reduces
the chance of someone being thrown out of the car during a crash.
For security, locked doors can
prevent an outsider from
unexpectedly opening a door when
you come to a stop.
See page 75 for how to lock thedoors.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Adult s

2 . Adjus t th e Fron t Seat s
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 from being struck by an inflating airbag during a

crash.
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 the seat as far to
the rear as possible.
Most shorter drivers can get far
enough away from the steering
wheel and still reach the pedals. However, if you are concerned aboutsitting too close, we recommend that
you investigate whether some type of adaptive equipment may help.
Once your seat is adjusted correctly,
rock it back and forth to make sure
the seat is locked in position.
See page 79 for how to adjust the
front seats.
Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

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.

Protectin
g Adult s

7 . Maintai n a Prope r Sittin g
Positio n
After all occupants have adjusted their seats and put on seat belts, it is
very important that they continue to sit upright, well back in their seats,
with their 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. Forexample, if an occupant slouches,
lies down, turns sideways, sits
forward, leans forward or sideways, or puts one or both feet up, the
chance of injury during a crash is
greatly increased. In addition, an occupant who is out of
position in the front seat can be seriously or fatally injured bystriking interior parts of the car, or
by being struck by an inflating airbag.
Remember, to get the best
protection from your car's airbags and other safety features, you must
sit properly and wear your seat belt

properly.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
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.

Protectin
g Childre n
Childre n Shoul d Si t i n th e Bac k
Sea t
According to accident statistics, children of all ages and sizes aresafer when they are restrained in the
back seat, not the front seat. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration and Transport Canada recommend that all children
ages 12 and under be properly
restrained in the back seat.
In the back seat, children are less
likely to be injured by striking hard interior parts during a collision or
hard braking. Also, children cannot
be injured by an inflating airbag
when they ride in the back. Th
e Passenger' s Airba g Pose s
Seriou s Risk s t o Childre n
Airbags have been designed to help protect adults in a moderate tosevere 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
with enough force to kill or very seriously injure a small child.
Larger ChildrenChildren who have outgrown child
seats are also at risk of being injured or killed by an inflating passenger's

airbag. Whenever possible, larger

children should sit in the back seat,
properly restrained with a seat belt. (See page 37 for important
information about protecting larger
children.)
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Childre n

Genera l Guideline s fo r Usin g

Chil d Seat s

The following pages give general guidelines for selecting and installingchild 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 Standard
213 (CMVSS 213). 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
a rear-facing seat provides the
proper support to protect an infant's
head, neck, and back. See page 29 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 33 for additional information on protecting
small children.

CONTINUED

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Childre n
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 car. Before purchasing a child seat, we
recommend that parents test the child seat in the specific vehicle
seating position (or positions) where
they intend to use the seat. If a previously purchased child seat does
not fit, you may need to buy adifferent one that will fit.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y