HONDA ODYSSEY 1999 Owner's Manual

Protecting Adults

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 vehicle.
Remember to keep the lap portion of
the belt as low as possible across
your hips. Pregnant women should also sit
upright arid as far back as possible from the steering wheel ordashboard. 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. Additional Safety Precautions Never let passengers ride in the

cargo area or on top of a folded-

down back seat. All passengers

must sit in locked, upright seats
and be properly restrained by seat

belts.
Passengers should not stand up or

change seats while the vehicle is

moving. A passenger who is not
wearing a seat belt during a crash or emergency stop can be thrown
against the inside of the vehicle,
against other occupants, or out of
the vehicle.
Two people should never use the

same seat belt. If they do, they
could be very seriously injured in a

crash.

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Protecting Adults
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 seat belts and increase the chance of serious
injury in a crash. Do not place hard or sharp objects
between yourself and an 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
airbags inflate.
Keep your hands and arms away

from the airbag covers. If your
hands or arms are close to the SRS
covers in the center of the steering wheel and on top of the
dashboard, they could be injured if
the airbags inflate.

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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 vehicle, besure 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, vehicleaccidents 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.

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
39 .)

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 properlyrestrained in a child seat. A
larger child should be properly
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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 a back seat.
In a 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 Airbag Poses

Serious Risks to Children
Airbags have been designed to help protect adults in a moderate to severe frontal collision. To do this,
the passenger's 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 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 a back seat,
properly restrained with a seat belt. (See page 39 for important
information about protecting larger
children.)

CONTINUED

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Protecting Children

U.S. Models

To remind you of the passenger's airbag hazards, and that children
must be properly restrained in a
back seat, your vehicle has warning labels on the dashboard and on thedriver's and front passenger's visors.
Please read and follow the
instructions on these labels. Canadian Models
To remind you of the airbag hazards,
your vehicle has warning labels on the driver's and front passenger's
visors. Please read and follow theinstructions 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 FURTHERINFORMATION 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'ARPIERE 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
PULS AMPLES RENSEIGNEMENTS.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Children

If You Must Drive with Several Children

Your vehicle has two rows of back
seats where children can be properly

restrained.

If you ever have to carry a group of

children (when carpooling for

example), and a child must ride in

front:

Place the largest child in the front
seat, provided the child is large

enough to wear a seat belt

properly (see page 39 ).
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 19 ).
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 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, we
strongly recommend that another
adult ride with the child in a 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 ).

Do not leave children alone in your
vehicle. Leaving children without
adult supervision is illegal in most
states and 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.
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Protecting Children

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.

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 30 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 35 for additional information on protectingsmall children.

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Protecting 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, Honda is confident that
one or more child seat models can fit
and be properly installed in all
recommended seating positions in
your vehicle. 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.
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Protecting Children

Placing a Child Seat

This page briefly summarizes Honda's recommendations on where
to place rear-facing and forward-
facing child seats in your vehicle.
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 36).

Back Seats

Infants: Recommended positions.
Secure a rear-facing child seat
with the seat belt (see page 31).

Small children: Recommended
positions. Secure a front-facing
child seat with the seat belt (see
page 36).
Driver and Passenger Safety Airbags Pose Serious
Risks to Children
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.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t

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 vehicle
with a seat belt. All child seats
must be secured to the vehicle
with the lap part of a lap/shoulder
belt. A child whose seat is not properly secured to the vehicle
can be endangered in a crash. See
pages 31 and 36 for instructions on
how to secure child seats in this

vehicle.

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 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 properlysecured. An unsecured child seat can
be thrown around the vehicle during a crash or sudden stop and injure
someone.

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