Acura RL 2001 3.5 Owner's Guide

Protecting Adults
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.Advice for Pregnant Women
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 car.
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.
Driver and Passenger Safety

Protecting Adults
Additional Safety Precautions
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.

Do not place hard or sharp objects between yourself and a front

airbag. Carrying hard or sharp
objects on your lap, or driving with
a pipe or other sharp object in
your mouth, can result in injuries if your front airbag inflates.

Do not attach or place objects on the front airbag covers. Any object

attached to or placed on the covers
marked "SRS AIRBAG" in the
center of the steering wheel and
on top of the dashboard could
interfere with the proper operation of the airbags. Or, if the airbags
inflate, the objects could be
propelled inside the car and hurt
someone.

Do not attach hard objects on or
near a front door. If a side airbag

inflates, a cup holder or other hard object attached on or near the
door could be propelled inside the
car and hurt someone.

Keep your hands and arms away
from the airbag covers. If your

hands or arms are close to the airbag cover in the center of thesteering wheel or on top of the
dashboard, they could be injured if
the front airbags inflate.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Protecting Children
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.
All Children Must Be Restrained
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 andCanadian province requires that
infants and children be restrained
whenever they ride in a vehicle.

Any child who is too small to wear a

seat belt should be properly

restrained in a child seat. (See page
24.)

A larger child should always be
restrained with a seat belt.
(See page

35.)
Driver and Passenger Safety
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 properly restrained in a child seat. A
larger child should be properly
restrained with a seat belt.

Protecting Children
Children Should Sit in the Back

Seat

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. The Passenger's Front Airbag
Poses Serious Risks to Children
Front airbags have been designed to
help protect adults in a moderate to severe frontal collision. To do this,
the passenger's front 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 front 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 front 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 front 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

front airbag. Whenever possible,

larger children should sit in the back seat, properly restrained with a seat
belt. (See page 35 for important information about protecting larger
children.)
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Driver and Passenger Safety

Protecting Children

U.S. Models
To remind you of the passenger's front airbag hazards, and thatchildren must be properly restrainedin 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. Canadian Models
To remind you of the front airbag hazards, your car has warning labelson the driver's and front passenger's
visors. Please read and follow the instructions on these labels.
Driver and Passenger Safety CAUTION
TO AVOID SERIOUS INJURY:

FOR MAXIMUM SAFETY PROTECTION IN
ALL TYPES OF CRASHES, YOU MUST
ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SAFETY BELT. DO NOT INSTALL REARWARD-FACING
CHILD SEATS IN ANY FRONT PASSENGER SEAT POSITION.
DO NOT SIT OR LEAN UNNECESSARILY
CLOSE TO THE AIR BAG. DO NOT PLACE ANY OBJECTS OVER THE

AIR BAG OR BETWEEN THE AIR BAG

AND YOURSELF. SEE THE OWNER'S MANUAL FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION AND EXPLANATIONS.
PRECAUTION:

POUR EVITER DES BLESSURES GRAVES:

POUR PROFITER D'UNE PROTECTION
MAXIMALE LORS D'UNE COLLISION BOUCLEZ
TOUJOURS VOTRE CEINTURE DE SECURITE.
N'lNSTALLEZ JAMAIS UN SIEGE POURENFANTS FAISANT FACE A L'ARRIERE SUR
LE SIEGE DU PASSAGER AVANT.
NE VOUS APPUYEZ PAS ET NE VOUS ASSEYEZ PAS PRES DU COUSSIN GONFLABLE.
NE DEPOSEZ AUCUN OBJET SUR LE COUSSIN
GONFLABLE OU ENTRE LE COUSSIN
GONFLABLE ET VOUS. LISEZ LE GUIDE UTILISATEUR POUR DE
PLUS AMPLES RENSEIGNEMENTS.

Protecting Children

If You Must Drive with Several
Children
Your car has three seating positions in the back seat where children can
be properly restrained.
If you ever have to carry more than
three children in your car: 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 12).
Have the child sit upright and well
back in the seat (see page 17). Make sure the seat belt is properly
positioned and secured (see page 15). 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 the child to hazards from
the passenger's front airbag, and
paying close attention to a child distracts the driver from the
important tasks of driving, placing
both of you at risk.
If a child requires physical attention
or frequent visual contact, westrongly recommend that another
adult ride with the child in the back
seat. The 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 85).
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 (seepage 107).

CONTINUED

Driver and Passenger Safety

Protecting Children

Lock all doors and the trunk when

your car is not in use. Children

who play in cars can accidentally get trapped inside the trunk.
Teach your children not to play in or around cars. Know how to
operate the emergency trunk
opener (US models only) and
decide if your children should be shown how to use this feature (see
page 87).
Keep car keys and remote
transmitters out of the reach of

children. Even very young
children learn how to unlock
vehicle doors, turn on the ignition, and open the trunk, which can
lead to accidental injury or death.
Do not leave children alone in your

vehicle. Leaving children without
adult supervision is illegal in most states and Canadian provinces,
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. General Guidelines for Using
Child Seats
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.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Protecting Children
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 28 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 3 2 for
additional information on protecting
small 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 one
or 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 a
different one that will fit.
CONTINUED

Driver and Passenger Safety

Protecting Children
Placing a Child Seat

This page briefly summarizes Acura's recommendations on where to place
rear-facing and forward facing childseats in your car.
Front Passenger's Seat

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

Small children: Not recommended,
due to the front 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 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 front airbag inflates with enough force to killor 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 front airbag can kill orseriously injure the child.
If a small child must ride in the
front, follow the instructions
provided in this section.

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 car
with a seat belt. All child seats
must be secured to the car with
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 29 and 33 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 be
difficult 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 properlystrapped 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 be 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.

Driver and Passenger Safety