Acura RL 2006 Owner's Guide

If your
hands or arms are close to an
airbag cover, they could be injured
if the airbag inf lates.
Objects on
the covers marked ‘‘SRS AIRBAG’’
could interf ere with the proper
operation of the airbags or be
propelled inside the vehicle and
hurt someone if the airbags inf late.
If they do, they
could be very seriously injured in a
crash.
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 f ront airbag inf lates. Devices intended to improve
occupant comf ort or reposition the
shoulder part of a seat belt can
reduce the protective capability of
thebeltandincreasethechanceof
serious injury in a crash.
If a side airbag or a
side curtain airbag inf lates, a cup
holder or other hard object
attached on or near the door could
be propelled inside the vehicle and
hurt someone.
K eep your hands and arms away
f rom t he airbag covers.
Do not at t ach or place object s onthe f ront airbag covers.
T wo people should never use t he
same seat belt .
Do not place hard or sharp object sbet ween yourself and a f rontairbag.
Do not put any accessories on seat
belts.
Do not at t ach hard object s on ornear a door.Additional Saf ety Precautions
Protecting A dults and Teens
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CONT INUED
If you turn the ignition switch to the
ON (II) position bef ore your seat
belt is f astened, the beeper will
sound and the indicator will f lash. If
your seat belt is not f astened bef ore
the beeper stops, the indicator stays
on without f lashing.If you do not f asten your seat belt
while driving, the beeper will sound
and the indicator will f lash again at
regular intervals. You will also see a
‘‘FASTEN SEAT BELT’’ message on
the multi-information display (see
page ).
The lap/shoulder belt goes over
your shoulder, across your chest,
and across your hips.
To unlock the belt, press the red
PRESSbuttononthebuckle.Guide
the belt across your body so that it
retracts completely. Af ter exiting the
vehicle, be sure the belt is out of the
way and will not get closed in the
door.
To fasten the belt, insert the latch
plate into the buckle, then tug on the
belt to make sure the buckle is
latched (see page f or how to
properly position the belt). All seat belts have an emergency
locking retractor. In normal driving,
the retractor lets you move f reely in
your seat while it keeps some
tension on the belt. During a collision
or sudden stop, the retractor
automatically locks the belt to help
restrain your body.
The seat belt system
includes an indicator on the
instrument panel and a beeper to
remind you and your passengers to
f asten your seat belts. Your seat belt system includes lap/
shoulder belts in all f ive seating
positions. The f ront seat belts are
also equipped with automatic seat
belt tensioners and, on models with
ACC, seat belt e-pretensioners.
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79
Seat Belt System Components
L ap/Shoulder Belt
Additional Inf ormation About Your Seat Belts
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
21

For added protection, the f ront seat
belts are equipped with automatic
seat belt tensioners. When activated,
the tensioners immediately tighten
the belts to help hold the driver and
a f ront passenger in place.
The seat belts in all positions except
the driver’s have an additional
locking mechanism that must be
activated to secure a child seat (see
page ).
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 f reely.
To deactivate the locking
mechanism, unlatch the buckle and
let the seat belt f ully retract. To
ref asten the seat belt, pull it out only
as f ar as needed.
The tensioners are designed to
activate in any collision severe
enough to cause f ront-airbag
inf lation.
The tensioners can also be activated
during a collision in which the f ront
airbags
. In this case, the
airbags would not be needed, but the
additional restraint could be helpf ul.
When the tensioners are activated,
the seat belts will remain tight until
they are unbuckled in the normal
manner.
If the f ront seat belt tensioners ever
activate, they must be replaced as
the belts will no longer retract
properly.
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do not deploy
A utomatic Seat Belt T ensioners
Additional Inf ormation About Your Seat Belts
22

On model with Adaptive Cruise Control
CONT INUED
For added saf ety, the f ront seat belts
are equipped with the
e-pretensioners that work in
combination with the collision
mitigation brake system (CMBS) to
maximize the restraining ability of
the belts. For more information on
the CMBS, see page .To get the f ull benef it of the
e-pretensioners, you and your f ront
passenger must sit normally in your
seats and wear your seat belts
properly (see page ).The e-pretensioners do not activate
when the seat belts are not worn or
when the VSA of f indicator on the
instrument panel is on.
If the automatic seat belt tensioners
are activated by a collision, both
f ront seat belts and all related
components must be replaced (see
page ). If only the
e-pretensioners were activated, no
components need to be replaced.
If your vehicle gets too close to the
vehicle ahead of it in your lane, the
driver’s e-pretensioner slightly
retracts the seat belt to alert the
driver of the approaching vehicle. If
a collision with the vehicle in f ront of
you is likely, the e-pretensioners on
both front seats retract the seat belts
with enough f orce to properly
restrain you and your f ront
passenger. After they activate, the
e-pretensioners release the seat belts.
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Additional Inf ormation About Your Seat Belts
Seat belt E-pretensioners
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
23

In addition, the f ront passenger’s
e-pretensioner does not activate
when the passenger’s airbag is
automatically turned off because the
weight sensor detects a child in the
f ront passenger’s seat.
Additional Inf ormation About Your Seat Belts
24

If a seat belt is worn during a crash,
it must be replaced by the dealer. A
belt that has been worn during a
crash may not provide the same level
of protection in a subsequent crash.
The dealer should also inspect the
anchors f or damage and replace
them if needed. If the automatic seat
belt tensioners activate during a
crash, they must be replaced.
For saf ety, you should check the
condition of your seat belts regularly.
Pull each belt out f ully, and look f or
f rays, cuts, burns, and wear. Check
that the latches work smoothly and
the belts retract easily. If a belt does
not retract easily, cleaning the belt
may correct the problem (see page
). Any belt that is not in good
condition or working properly will
not provide good protection and
should be replaced as soon as
possible.
Acura provides a lif etime warranty
on seat belts f or U.S. models. See
your
booklet f or details. 379
Acura Warranty Inf ormation
Additional Inf ormation About Your Seat Belts
Seat Belt Maintenance
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
25
Not checking or maintaining
seat belts can result in serious
injury or death if the seat belts
do not work properly when
needed.
Check your seat belts regularly
and have any problem
corrected as soon as possible.

Î
Î
On models with Adaptive Cruise Control
:
A irbag System Components
Additional Inf ormation About Your Airbags
26
(1)
(2)
(3) (4)
(5) (8)
(7)
(6) (4)(5)
(10)
(9)
(9)
(10) Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS) Sensors (6) Driver’s Seat Position Sensor
(7) Front Passenger’s Seat Weight Sensors
(8) Passenger Airbag Off Indicator
(9) Side Impact Sensors (First) (1) Driver’s Airbag
(2) Front Passenger’s Airbag
(3) Control Unit
(4) Front Seat Belt Tensioners/
Seat Belt E-pretensioners
(5) Side Airbags

Your airbag system includes:Two side airbags, one f or the
driver and one f or a f ront
passenger. The airbags are stored
in the outer edges of the seat-
backs. Both are marked ‘‘SIDE
AIRBAG’’ (see page ).
Two side curtain airbags, one f or
each side of the vehicle. The
airbags are stored in the ceiling,
above the side windows. The front
and rear pillars are marked ‘‘SIDE
CURTAIN AIRBAG’’ (see page ).
Two SRS (supplemental restraint
system) f ront airbags. The driver’s
airbag is stored in the center of
the steering wheel; the f ront
passenger’sairbagisstoredinthe
dashboard. Both are marked ‘‘SRS
AIRBAG.’’
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34
CONT INUED
Additional Inf ormation About Your Airbags
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
27
(12) (15)
(14)
(13)
(11) (13)
(13) Side Impact Sensors (Second)
(14) Rear Safing Sensor
(15) Side Curtain Airbags
(11) E-pretensioners Control Unit
(12) Front Impact Sensors

An indicator on the instrument
panel that alerts you that the
passenger’s side airbag has been
turned of f (see page ).
An indicator on the dashboard that
alerts you that the passenger’s
f ront airbag has been turned of f
(see page ).
Emergency backup power in case
your vehicle’s electrical system is
disconnected in a crash.
Weight sensors that monitor the
weight on the f ront passenger’s
seat. These automatically turn off
the passenger’s front airbag if
they detect an inf ant or small child
maybeintheseat(seepage ).
Automatic front seat belt
tensioners (see page ).
Sensors that can detect a
moderate to severe front impact or
side impact.
Sensors that can detect whether a
child is in the passenger’s side
airbag path and automatically turn
the airbag of f (see page ).
A driver’s seat position sensor that
monitors the distance of the seat
from the front airbag. If the seat is
too f ar f orward, the airbag will
inf late with less f orce (see page
). A sophisticated electronic system
that continually monitors and
records inf ormation about the
sensors, the control unit, the
airbag activators, the seat belt
tensioners, and driver and f ront
passenger seat belt use when the
ignition switch is in the ON (II)
position.
Frontseatbelte-pretensioners
(see page ).
An indicator on the instrument
panel that alerts you to a possible
problem with your airbags,
sensors, seat belt tensioners (see
page ), or, on models with ACC,
seat belt e-pretensioners (see page).
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35 35
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Additional Inf ormation About Your Airbags
28

CONT INUED
Af ter inf lating, the f ront airbags will
immediately def late, so they won’t
interf ere with the driver’s visibility,
or the ability to steer or operate
other controls.
The total time for inflation and
def lation is one-tenth of a second, so
f ast that most occupants are not
aware that the airbags deployed until
they see them lying in their laps.
During a f rontal crash, your seat belt
restrains your lower body and torso,
and the f ront airbag helps protect
your head and chest.
Although both airbags normally
inf late within a split second of each
other, it is possible f or only one
airbag to deploy.
This can happen if the severity of a
collision is at the margin, or
threshold, that determines whether
or not the airbags will deploy. In
such cases, the seat belt will provide
suf f icient protection, and the
supplemental protection of f ered by
the airbag would be minimal.
If you ever have a moderate to
severe f rontal collision, sensors will
detect the vehicle’s rapid
deceleration.
If the rate of deceleration is high
enough, the control unit will instantly
inf late the driver’s and f ront
passenger’s airbags, at the time and
with the f orce needed. Only the driver’s airbag will deploy if
there is no passenger in the f ront
seat, or if the advanced airbag
system has turned the passenger’s
airbag off (see page ).
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Additional Inf ormation About Your Airbags
How Your Front Airbags Work
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
29