child seat Acura Integra 2001 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................................... 10Pre-Drive Safety Checklist......... 11

Protecting Adults.............................
12
1. Clos
e 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.................................... 25
If a Child Requires Close
Attention................................... 25
Additional Safety Precautions.... 25 General Guidelines for Using

Child Seats................................ 26

Protecting Infants........................ 30

Protecting Small Children.......... 34
Protecting Larger Children........ 38
Using Child Seats with Tethers...................................... 41
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

Importan
t Safet y Precaution s
You'll find many safety recommendations throughout thissection, and throughout this manual.
The recommendations on this page are the ones we consider to be the
most important.
Alway s Wea r You r Sea t Bel t
A seat belt is your best protection in
all types of collisions. Airbags

supplement seat belts, but airbags

are designed to inflate only in a

moderate to severe frontal collision.

So even though your car is equipped

with airbags, make sure you and

your passengers always wear your
seat belts, and wear them properly.
(See page 16.)
Restrai n Al l Childre n
Children are safest when they are
properly restrained in the back seat,
not the front seat. A child who is too small for a seat belt must be properly
restrained in a child safety seat. (See
page 21.) B
e Awar e o f Airba g Hazard s
While airbags can save lives, they can cause serious or fatal injuries to
occupants who sit too close to them,
or are not properly restrained.
Infants, young children, and short
adults are at the greatest risk. Besure to follow all instructions and
warnings in this manual. (See page 9 .)

Don' t Drin k an d Driv e

Alcohol and driving don't mix. Even one drink can reduce your ability to
respond to changing conditions, and
your reaction time gets worse with every additional drink. So don't drinkand drive, and don't let your friends
drink and drive, either. Contro
l You r Spee d
Excessive speed is a major factor in
crash injuries and deaths. Generally,
the higher the speed the greater the
risk, but serious accidents can also occur at lower speeds. Never drive
faster than is safe for current conditions, regardless of the
maximum speed posted.
Kee p You r Ca r i n Saf e Conditio n
Having a tire blowout or a
mechanical failure can be extremely
hazardous. To reduce the possibility of such problems, check your tire
pressures and condition frequently, and perform all regularly scheduled
maintenance. (See page 164.)
Drive r 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. (Yourairbag 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, andallows 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 seat 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
Airbag s
Your car has a Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) with frontal
airbags to help protect the driver and
a front seat passenger.
This system also includesan indicator light on the
instrument panel to alert you to a
possible problem with the system. The most important things you need
to know about your airbags are: Airbags do not replace seat belts.
The seat belts are the occupants' primary protection in all types ofcollisions. The airbags supplement
the seat belts by providing extra
protection for the head and chest of each front seat occupant in a
moderate to severe frontal

collision.
Airbags offer no protection in side
impacts, rear impacts, rollovers,or minor collisions. Airbags are

designed to deploy only during a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.
Airbags can pose serious hazards.
To do their job, airbags must inflate with tremendous force andspeed. So while airbags save lives,
they can cause serious injuries to adults and larger children who are
not wearing seat belts, are not
wearing them properly, are sitting too close to the airbag, or are notsitting in a proper position. Infants
and small children are at an even
greater risk of injury or death.

What you should do: Always wear

your seat belt properly, and sit upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel or
dashboard.

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

S

R
S

You
r Car' s Safet y Feature s
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 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 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 38 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
either 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 the
doors.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Adult s

Advic e fo r Pregnan t Wome n
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 vehicle.
Remember to keep the lap portion of
the belt as low as possible across
your hips. Pregnant women should also sit
upright and 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 check-up, ask
your doctor if it's okay for you to drive. Additiona
l Safet y Precaution s

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 the seat
belt and increase the chance of serious injury in a crash.

CONTINUED

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Childre n

Children depend on adults to protect
them. However, despite their best
intentions, many parents and other
adults may 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 car, be sure to
read this section. Al
l Childre n Mus t B e Restraine d
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.

CONTINUED

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

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 properlyrestrained in a child seat. A
larger child should be properly restrained with a seat belt.

Protectin
g Childre n
Any child who is too small to wear a seat belt should be properly
restrained in a child seat. (See page 26.)
A larger child should always be restrained with a seat belt. (See page 38.) Childre
n Shoul d Si t i n th e Bac k
Sea t
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 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.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Childre n

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's

airbag. Whenever possible, larger

children should sit in the back seat,
properly restrained with a seat belt. (See page 38 for important
information about protecting larger
children.)

CONTINUED

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y