TOYOTA RAV4 1997 Owner's Guide

30
Toyota strongly urges that the driver and passengers in the vehicle be properly re- strained at all times with the seat belts
provided. Failure to do so could increase
the chance of injury and/or the severity of
injury in accidents. Child.
Use a child restraint system ap-
propriate for the child until the child be-
comes large enough to properly wear the
vehicle's seat belts. See Child restraintº
for details.
If a child is too large for a child restraint
system, the child should sit in the rear seat
and must be restrained using the vehicle's
seat belt. According to accident statistics,the child is safer when properly restrained
in the rear seat than in the front seat.
If a child must sit in the front seat, the seat
belts should be worn properly. If an acci-
dent occurs and seat belts are not worn
properly, the force of the rapid inflation of
the airbag may cause serious injury to the child. Do not allow the child to stand up or kneel
on either rear or front seats. An unre-
strained child could suffer serious injury
during emergency braking or a collision.
Also, do not let the child sit on your lap. It
does not provide sufficient restraint.
If the shoulder belt falls across the child's neck or face: 2-door models-
Have
the child sit slightly closer to the cen-
ter of the vehicle so that the belt lays
across the shoulder. 4-door models- Move the child to the center position and use the center lap belt.
Pregnant woman. Toyota recommends
the use of a seat belt. Ask your doctor for
specific recommendations. The lap belt
should be worn securely and as low as
possible over the hips and not on the waist.
Injured person. Toyota recommends the
use of a seat belt. Depending on the injury,
first check with your doctor for specificrecommendations.
CAUTION!
Persons should ride in their seats
properly wearing in their seat belts
whenever the vehicle is moving.
Otherwise, they are much more likely
to suffer serious bodily injury in theevent of sudden braking or a colli-sion.
When using the seat belts, observe
the following: Use the belt for only one person at a time. Do not use a single belt for
two or more people-even children.
Avoid reclining the seatbacks too
much. The seat belts provide maxi-
mum protection when the seat-
backs are in the upright position.
(Refer to the seat adjustment in-structions.)
Be careful not to damage the belt
webbing or hardware. Take care
that they do not get caught or
pinched in the seat or side doors.
Seat belts- -Seat belt precautions

31
Inspect the belt system periodical-
ly. Check for cuts, fraying and
loose parts. Damaged parts
should be replaced. Do not disas- semble or modify the system.
Keep the belts clean and dry. If
they need cleaning, use a mild
soap solution or lukewarm water.
Never use bleach, dye, or abrasive
cleaners-they may severely weak-
en the belts.
Replace the belt assembly (includ-
ing bolts) if it has been used in a
severe impact. The entire assem-
bly should be replaced even if
damage is not obvious.
Adjust the seat as needed (front seats only) and sit up straight and well back
in the seat. To fasten your belt, pull it
out of the retractor and insert the tab
into the buckle.
You will hear a click when the tab locks into the buckle.
The seat belt length automatically adjusts
to your size and the seat position.
The retractor will lock the belt during a
sudden stop or on impact. It also may lock
if you lean forward too quiclky. A slow, easy motion will allow the belt to extend,
and you can move around freely. If the seat belt cannot be pulled out of the
retractor,
firmly pull the belt and release it.
You will then be able to smoothly pull the
belt out of the retractor.
When a passenger's shoulder belt is com-
pletely extended and is then retracted
even slightly, the belt is locked in that posi-
tion and cannot be extended. This feature
is used to hold the child restraint system
securely. (For details, see Child restraintº
in this chapter.) To free the belt again, fully
retract the belt and then pull the belt out
once more.
ÐFront seat belts and rear outside seat belts

32
CAUTION!
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and that the belt is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact
your Toyota dealer. Do not use the
seat until the seat belt is fixed. It
cannot protect an adult occupant
or your child from injury.
Seat belts with an adjustable shoulder anchorÐ
Adjust the shoulder anchor position
to your size.
To adjust the anchor position, pull the knob out and slide it up or down. Release the knob and make sure the anchor is
locked in position.
CAUTION!
Always make sure the shoulder belt
is positioned across the center of
your shoulder. The belt should be
kept away from the neck, but not
falling off your shoulder. Failure to
do so could reduce the amount of
protection in an accident and cause
severe injuries in a collision.

33
Adjust the position of the lap and
shoulder belts. Position the lap belt as low as possible on
your hips-not on your waist, then adjust it
to a snug fit by pulling the shoulder portion
upward through the latch plate.
CAUTION!
High-positioned lap belts and
loose-fitting belts both could cause severe injuries due to sliding
under the lap belt during a colli-
sion. Keep the lap belt positioned
as low on hips as possible.
For your safety, do not place the
shoulder belt under your arm.
To release the belt, press the buckle-
release button and allow the belt to re- tract.
If the belt does not retract smoothly, pull
it out and check for knicks or twists. Then make sure it remains untwisted as it re- tracts.

34
Sit up straight and well back in the
seat. To fasten your belt, insert the tab
into the buckle.
You will hear a click when the tab locks into the buckle.
If the belt is not long enough for you, hold the tab at a right angle to the belt and pull
on the tab.
CAUTION!
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the belt is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in the
buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact your
Toyota dealer. Do not use the seat
until the seat belt is fixed. It cannot
protect an adult occupant or your
child from injury.
Remove excess length of the belt and adjust the belt position.
To shorten the belt, pull the free end of the belt. Position the lap belt as low as possible on your hips-not on your waist, then adjust it
to a snug fit.
CAUTION!
High-positioned and loose-fitting
lap belts could cause severe injuries due to sliding under the lap belt dur-
ing a collision. Keep the lap belt
positioned as low on hips as pos-sible.
ÐRear center seat belt (4-door models)

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To release the belt, press the buckle-
release button.The rear seat belts can be stowed
when not in use.
Seat belts must be stowed before you fold
the seatback. (See Rear seats-Folding
up rear seatsº in this chapter.) If your seat belt cannot be fastened se- curely because it is not long enough, a
personalized seat belt extender is avail-
able from your Toyota dealer free of charge.
Please contact your local Toyota dealer
so that the dealer can order the proper re-
quired length for the extender. Bring the heaviest
coat you expect to wear for prop-
er measurement and selection of length.
Additional ordering information is avail-
able at your Toyota dealer.
ÐStowing the rear seat belts (4-door models)
ÐSeat belt extender

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CAUTION!
When using the seat belt extender,
observe the following. Failure to fol-
low these instructions could result
in less effectiveness of the seat belt
restraint system in case of vehicle
accident, increasing the chance of
personal injury. Never use the seat belt extender if
you can fasten the seat belt without it.
Remember that the extender pro-
vided for you may not be safe
when used on a different vehicle,
or for another person or at a differ-
ent seating position than the one
originally intended for.
To connect the extender to the seat
belt, insert the tab into the seat belt
buckle so that the PRESSº signs onthe buckle-release buttons of the ex-
tender and the seat belt are both facing
outward as shown.
You will hear a click when the tab locks into the buckle.
When releasing the seat belt, press on the
buckle-release button on the extender, not on the seat belt. This helps prevent
damage to the vehicle interior and extend-
er itself.
When not in use, remove the extender
and store in the vehicle for future use.
CAUTION!
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the belt is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in the
buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact your
Toyota dealer. Do not use the seat
until the seat belt is fixed. It cannot
protect an adult occupant or your
child from injury.

37
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) airbags are designed to provide
further protection to the driver and
front passenger when added to the pri-
mary protection provided by the seatbelts.
In response to a severe frontal impact, the
SRS airbags work together with the seat
belts to help preventing or reduce injury by
inflating, in order to decrease the likeli-
hood of the driver's or front passenger's
head or chest directly hitting the steering
wheel or dashboard. The passenger air-
bag is activated even with no passenger
in the front seat.This indicator comes on when the
ignition key is turned to the ACCº or
ONº position. It goes off after about 6
seconds. This means the SRS airbags
are operating properly.
The SRS airbag warning light system
monitors the airbag sensor assembly, in-
flators, warning light, interconnecting wir-
ing and power sources.The SRS airbag system is designeed
to activate in response to a severe
frontal impact within the shaded area
between the arrows in the illustration.
The SRS airbags will deploy if the severity
of the impact is above the designed
threshold level, comparable to an approxi-
mate 20 km/h (14 mph) collision when im-
pacting straight into a fixed barrier that
does not move or deform.
If the severity of the impact is below the
above threshold level, the SRS airbags
may not deploy.
SRS airbags

38
However, this threshold velocity will be
considerably higher if the vehicle strikes
an object, such as a parked vehicle or sign
pole, which can move or deform on im-
pact, or if it is
involved in an underride col-
lision (e.g. a collision in which the noise of
the vehicle underridesº, or goes under, the bed of a truck. It is possible with collision severity at the marginal level of airbag sensor detection
and activation that only one of your ve-
hicle's two airbags will deploy.
For the safety of all occupants, be sure to
always wear seat belts.
The SRS airbags are not designed to inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a
side or rear impact, if it rolls over, or if
it is involved in a low-speed frontalcollision.The SRS airbag system mainly consists
of the following components and their
locations are shown in the illustration.
1 SRS airbag warning light.
2 Passenger airbag module (airbag and inflator)
3 Airbag sensor assembly.
4 Steering wheel pad (airbag and inflat- or)
The airbag sensor assembly consists of a
safing sensor and airbag sensor.

39
In a severe frontal impact, sensors detect
deceleration and the system triggers the
airbag inflators. Then a chemical reaction
in the inflators momentairly fills the
airbags with non-toxic nitrogen gas to
help restrain the forward motion of theoccupants. When the airbags inflate, they produce a fairly
loud noise and release some smoke
along with the nitrogen gas. This is notharmful and does not indicate a fire. Be
sure to wash off any residue as soon as
possible to prevent minor skin irritation.
Deployment of the airbags happen in a
fraction of a second, so the airbags must
inflate with considerable force. While the
system is designed to reduce serious inju-
ries, it may also cause minor burns or
abrasions and swellings.
Parts of the airbag module (steering
wheel hub, dashboard) may be hot forseveral minutes, but the airbags them-selves w ill not be hot. The airbags are de-
signed to inflate only once.
A crash severe enough to inflate the air-
bags may break the windshield as the ve-
hicle buckles. In vehicles with a passen-ger airbag the windshield may also be
damaged by absorbing some of the force
of the inflating airbag.
CAUTION!
The SRS airbag system is de-
signed only as a supplement to
the primary protection of the driv-
er side and front passenger side seat belt systems. The front seat
occupants are particularly sus-
ceptable to death or serious injury
if they do not wear their seat belts;
when sudden braking or a colli-
sion occurs, they may be thrown
forward into deployed SRS air-
bags. To obtain maximum protec-
tion in an accident, the driver and
all passengers in the vehicle
should always wear their seat
belts when driving because death
or serious injuries can result to
unrestrainted occupants. For in-
structions and precautions con-
cering the seat belt systems, see
Seat beltsº in this chapter.
A baby or small child who is too
small to use a seat belt should be
properly secured in a rear seat
using a child restraint system.
Never put a rear-facing child re-
straint system in the front seat be-
cause the force of the rapid infla-
tion of the passenger airbag can cause death or serious injury to
the child.