ecu Acura Integra 2000 Sedan Owner's Manual

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
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 accidentallyopening a door and falling out, and
outsiders from unexpectedly opening
your doors. Pre-Driv
e Safet y Checklis t
To make sure you and your passengers get the maximum
protection from your car's safety
features, check the following each time before you drive away:
All adults, and children who haveoutgrown child safety seats, are
wearing their seat belts and wearing them properly (see page 15).

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 12 ). Seat-backs are upright (see page
13). Head restraints are properly
adjusted (see page 14 ). All doors are closed and locked
(see page 12 ). All cargo is properly stored or
secured (see page 127 ).
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.
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
are closed and locked. Your car 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 that a passenger,
especially a child, will open a door
while the car is moving and accidentally fall out. It also reducesthe 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 72 for how to lock the

doors.
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.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Adult s

5.Faste n an d Positio n th e Sea t

Belt s

Using a Lap/Shoulder Belt

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.
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. 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.

CONTINUED
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Improperly positioning the seat
belts can cause serious injury

or death in a crash.

Make sure all seat belts are

properly positioned before

driving.

Protectin
g Adult s

If the seat belt touches or crosses
your neck, or if it crosses your arm instead of your shoulder, you need to
adjust the seat belt anchor height. To adjust the height of a front seat
belt anchor, squeeze the two release
buttons and slide the anchor up or down as needed (it has four
positions).

Never place the shoulder portion of alap/shoulder belt under your arm or
behind your back. This could cause

very serious injuries in a crash.
Using the Lap Belt
Insert the latch plate into the buckle
marked CENTER. If the belt is too short, hold the latch
plate at a right angle and pull on the
plate to extend the belt. Then insert
the latch plate into the buckle, and
tug on the belt to make sure the belt
is securely latched.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

RELEAS
E

BUTTO N

RELEAS E

BUTTO N

Protectin
g Childre n

U.S. Models
To remind you of the passenger's airbag hazards, and that children
must be properly restrained in the
back seat, your car 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. I
f Yo u Mus t Driv e wit h Severa l
Childre n
Your vehicle has three seating positions in the back seat wherechildren can be properly restrained.
If you ever have to carry more than
three children in your vehicle:
Place the largest child in the front
seat, provided the child is large
enough to wear a seat belt
properly (see page 37 ).
Move the vehicle seat as far to the
rear as possible (see page 12).
Have the child sit upright and well
back in the seat (see page 18). Make sure the seat belt is properly
positioned and secured (see page 15).

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Childre n

Placing a Child Seat

This page briefly summarizes Acura's recommendations on where to place
rear-facing and forward-facing child

seats in your car.
Front Passenger's Seat

Infants: Never in the front seat, due

to the passenger's 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 the
seat belt (see page 34).

Back Seats

Infants: Recommended positions.
Secure a rear-facing child seat

with the seat belt (see page 30).

Small children: Recommended
positions. Secure a front-facing
child seat with the seat belt (see
page 34).

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

CONTINUED
Airbag
s Pos e Seriou s
Risk s t o Childre n
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 in this section.

Protectin
g Childre n

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 car
with a seat belt. All child seats
must be secured to the car with
the lap belt or the lap part of a lap/ shoulder belt. A child whose seat
is not properly secured to the car can be endangered in a crash. See
pages 30 and 34 for instructions on
how to secure child seats in this car.

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 bedifficult to install a child seat so that
it does not move at all. Some side-to-
side or back-and-forth 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 in a
crash and seriously injured.
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 car during a
crash or sudden stop and injure
someone.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Childre n

Installing a Rear-Facing Child Seat with a Lap/Shoulder Belt
The lap/shoulder belts in the outer back seats have a locking
mechanism that must be activated to secure a child seat.
The following pages provide instructions and tips on how to
secure a rear-facing child seat with
this type of seat belt. See page 32 for how to secure a rear-
facing child seat in the center back seat with the lap belt.
For tips on installing a rear-facing
child seat with either type of seat
belt, see page 32 .
1. With the child seat in the desiredback seating position, route thebelt through the child seat
according to the seat maker's
instructions, then insert the latch
plate into the buckle.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Childre n

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 ofthe belt near the buckle and pullup 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 tostay 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 and remove a child seat,
unlatch the buckle, unroute the seat
belt, and let the belt fully retract.
Driver an d Passenge r Safet y
CONTINUED

Protectin
g Childre n

Installing a Rear-Facing Child Seat with the Lap Belt
To install a rear-facing child seat in the center back seat with the lap belt,
follow instruction number 1 on page 30 for routing and latching the seat
belt. Then pull hard on the loose end of the belt to remove any slack (it
may help to put weight on the child
seat while pulling on the belt).
Finally, follow instruction number 5
on page 31 to verify that the childseat is secure. Rear-Facing Child Seat Installation

Tips

For proper protection, an infant must
ride in a reclined, or semi-reclined
position. To determine the proper
reclining angle, check with the baby's doctor or follow the seat maker's
recommendations.
To achieve the desired reclining angle, it may help to put a rolled up
towel under the toe of the child seat,
as shown.
When properly installed, a rear-
facing child seat may prevent thedriver or a front-seat passenger from
moving the seat as far back as
recommended (see page 12 ). Or it
may prevent them from locking theseat-back in the desired upright
position (see page 13).
In either case, we recommend that
you place the child seat directly
behind the front passenger seat, move the front seat as far forward as
needed, and leave it unoccupied. Or
you may wish to get a smaller child seat that allows you to safely carry a
front passenger.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y