light Acura RL 2000 3.5 Owner's Manual

You
r Ca r a t a Glanc e
WINDSHIEL D WIPERS/WASHER S
(P . 68 , 70 ) HAZAR
D WARNIN G LIGHT S
(P . 70 )
REA R WINDO W DEFOGGE R
(P . 71 )
FO G LIGHT S
(P . 67 )

STEERIN
G WHEE L
ADJUSTMENT S

(P . 71 )
HEADLIGHTS/TUR N SIGNAL S
(P . 63 , 66 )
INSTRUMEN
T PANE L BRIGHTNES S
(P . 66 )
CRUIS
E CONTRO L
(P - 73 )
VEHICL
E STABILIT Y
ASSIS T SYSTE M OF F
SWITC H
(P . 189 )

Driver
and 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........................... 10Door Locks................................... 10
Pre-Drive Safety Checklist......... 11

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

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

6. Adjust the Steering Wheel..... 17
7. Maintain a Proper Sitting

Position................................. 17

Advice for Pregnant Women...... 18
Additional Safety Precautions.... 19

Protecting Children......................... 20

All Children Must Be
Restrained................................ 20

Children Should Sit in the Back Seat............................................ 21
The Passenger's Front Airbag Poses Serious Risksto Children............................ 21
If You Must Drive with Several
Children.................................... 23

If a Child Requires Close
Attention................................... 23

Additional Safety Precautions.... 23 General Guidelines for Using
Child Seats................................ 24

Protecting Infants........................ 28

Protecting Small Children.......... 32

Protecting Larger Children........ 35
Using Child Seats with
Tethers...................................... 39
Additional Information About Your

Seat Belts.................................. 40

Seat Belt System Components... 40

Lap/Shoulder Belt....................... 40

Automatic Seat Belt
Tensioners................................
41

Seat Bel
t Maintenance................ 42

Additional Information About Your
Front Airbags........................... 43

SRS Components.........................

43

How You
r Front Airbags

Work.......................................... 43

How the SRS Indicator Light
Works........................................ 45

Additional Information About Your
Side Airbags.............................

46

How You
r Side Airbags Work.... 46

How The Side Airbag Indicator
Light Works............................. 47

Additional Information About Your
Airbags...................................... 48

Airbag Service.............................. 48

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
These safety features are designed to reduce the severity of injuries in acrash. However, you and your
passengers can't take full advantage of these safety features unless you
remain sitting in a proper position
and always wear your seat belts

properly. In fact, some safety
features can contribute to injuries if
they are not used properly. 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 safely 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 vehicleso you can take advantage of the
vehicle's built-in safety features. Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including frontal, side, and rear impacts and
rollovers.

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.

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 35 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 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 81 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 front airbag
during a crash.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Additiona
l Informatio n Abou t You r Sea t Belt s
Sea t Bel t Syste m Component s

Your seat belt system includes lap/ shoulder belts in all five seating
positions. The front seat belts are
also equipped with automatic seat
belt tensioners.
The seat belt system alsoincludes a light on the
instrument panel to remind you and
your passengers to fasten your belts. If the driver's seat belt is not
fastened before the ignition is turned ON (II), the light will come on and a
beeper will also sound. The beeper
will stop after a few seconds, but the light will stay on until the driver'sseat belt is fastened. Lap/Shoulde
r Bel t
This seat belt has a single belt that goes over your shoulder, across yourchest and across your hips.
To fasten the belt, insert the latch plate into the buckle, then tug on the
belt to make sure the buckle is

latched.
To unlock the belt, push the red
PRESS button on the buckle.
Guide the belt across your body to
the door pillar. After exiting the car,
be sure the belt is out of the way and
will not get closed in the door.
All seat belts have an emergency locking retractor. In normal driving,the retractor lets you move freely in
your seat while it keeps some tension on the belt. During a collisionor sudden stop, the retractor
automatically locks the belt to help
restrain your body.
The seat belts in all seating positions except the driver's have an additional
locking mechanism that must be activated to secure a child seat. (See
pages 29 and 33 for instructions on
how to secure child seats with this
type of seat belt.)
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Additiona
l Informatio n Abou t You r Sea t Belt s

If the shoulder part of the belt is
pulled all the way out, the locking mechanism will activate. The belt
will retract, but it will not allow the passenger to move freely.
To deactivate the locking mechanism, unlatch the buckle and
let the seat belt fully retract. To
refasten the belt, pull it out only as
far as needed.
See page 15 for instructions on how
to wear the lap/shoulder belt
properly.
Automati
c Sea t Bel t Tensioner s

For added protection, the front seat
belts are equipped with automatic
seat belt tensioners. When activated,

the tensioners immediately tighten
the belts to help hold the driver and a front passenger in place.
The tensioners are designed to activate primarily in frontal collisions.
The tensioners are independent of the airbag system, so they can beactivated during a collision that might not cause the airbags to
deploy. In this case, the airbags
would not be needed but the additional seat belt tension can be

helpful.

The tensioners will be activated in a collision severe enough to cause the
front airbags to inflate.
When the tensioners are activated, the seat belts will remain tight until
they are unbuckled in the normal
way.
The SRS indicator light willcome on if there is a
problem with your automatic seat
belt tensioners (see page 45).
Driver an d Passenge r Safet y
S R S

Additiona
l Informatio n Abou t You r Fron t Airbag s
SR S Component s

Your Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) includes: Two front airbags. The driver's
airbag is stored in the center of
the steering wheel; the front
passenger's airbag is stored in the dashboard. Both are marked "SRS
AIRBAG." Automatic seat belt tensioners
(see page 41). Sensors that can detect a
moderate to severe frontal

collision.

A sophisticated electronic system
that continually monitors and
records information about thesensors, the control unit, the
airbag activators, driver and
passenger seat belt use, and all
related wiring when the ignition is ON (II). An indicator light on the
instrument panel that alerts you to
a possible problem with thesystem (see page 45). Emergency backup power in case
your car's electrical system is disconnected in a crash. Ho
w You r Fron t Airbag s Wor k
If you ever have a moderate to severe frontal collision, the sensors
will detect the vehicle's rapid deceleration. If the rate ofdeceleration is high enough, the
control unit will instantly inflate the
front airbags.
CONTINUED
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Additiona
l Informatio n Abou t You r Fron t Airbag s
Ho w th e SR S Indicato r Ligh t
Work s
The purpose of the SRSindicator light is to alert
you to a potential problem with your
front airbags. This light will also alert you to a potential problem with
your automatic seat belt tensioners (page 41); or your side airbags or
passenger's side airbag automatic
cutoff system (page 46).
When you turn the ignition ON (II), this indicator will light up briefly
then go out. This tells you that the system is working properly. However, if the light comes on at any
other time, you should have the
system checked by your dealer. For

example:
If the SRS indicator light does not
come on after you turn the ignition

ON (II).
If the light stays on after the

engine starts.
If the light comes on or flashes on
and off while you drive.
If you see any of these indications,
your front or side airbags may not deploy, your passenger's side airbag
automatic cutoff system may not
work properly, or your seat belt
tensioners may not work when you
need them. See your Acura dealer as soon as possible.
Driver an d Passenge r Safet y
Ignoring the SRS indicator light
can result in serious injury or
death if the airbags, cutoff
system, or tensioners do not
work properly.
Have your vehicle checked by a
dealer as soon as possible if
the SRS light alerts you to a potential problem.S R S

Additiona
l Informatio n Abou t You r Sid e Airbag s

Ho w Th e Sid e Airba g Indicato r
Ligh t Work s
The purpose of this light is to alert you if the
passenger's side airbag has been automatically shut off.
Although Acura does not encourage children to ride in the front, to help
prevent injury, your car has an automatic cutoff system for the
passenger's side airbag. This system is designed to shut off the airbag if a
child leans sideways and the child's
head is in the deployment path of the side airbag.
The side airbag may also shut off if a small adult leans sideways, or a
larger adult slouches and leans sideways, and the adult's head is in
the deployment path of the airbag. A front seat passenger should not
use a cushion or other object as a
backrest. It may prevent the cutoff system from working properly.
If this light comes on, you should
have the passenger sit upright. Once
the passenger is out of the deployment path of the side airbag,
the airbag will turn on and the light
will go out.
When you turn the ignition ON (II), the indicator light should light up
briefly and go out (see page 55). If it doesn't light, or it stays on or comes
on without a passenger in the front
seat, have the system checked. The SRS indicator light will
come on if there is a
problem with your side airbags or
the automatic cutoff system (see
page 45).
Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

S
R S

SID E

AIRBA G

Additiona
l Informatio n Abou t You r Airbag s

Airba g Servic e
Your front and side airbag systems are virtually maintenance-free, and
there are no parts you can safely service. However, you must have
your car serviced if: Your airbags ever inflate. Any
airbag that has deployed must be
replaced along with the control
unit and other related parts. Do
not try to remove or replace any
airbag by yourself.
This must be done by an Acura dealer or a knowledgeable body
shop.
The SRS indicator light alerts you

to a problem. Take your car to an
authorized Acura dealer as soon as
possible. If you ignore this
indication, the airbags might not
inflate when you need them. Additiona
l Safet y Precaution s
Do not attempt to deactivate your

airbags. Together, airbags and

seat belts provide the best
protection. Do not tamper with airbag

components or wiring for any

reason. Tampering could cause

the airbags to deploy, possibly causing very serious injury.
Do not expose the front seat-backs

to water. If rain or spilled water

soaks into a seat-back, it can
prevent the side airbag system
from working properly.
Do not cover or replace front seat-

back covers without consulting an

Acura dealer. Improperly
replacing or covering front seat-
back covers can prevent your side airbags from inflating during a

collision.

See page 173 for further information
and precautions relating to your
airbags.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y