HONDA CIVIC COUPE 1998 Owner's Manual

Protecting Children
Children depend on adults to protect
them. However, despite their best intentions, many parents and other
adults do 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, 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 notproperly restrained. In fact, vehicleaccidents are the number one cause
of death of children age 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
23.)

Larger children 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.
Larger children should be
properly restrained with a seat
belt.Main Menu Table of Contents s t

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 recommends that all children age 12 and under ride in the
back seat, properly restrained.
In the back seat, children are less
likely to be injured by striking hard interior vehicle 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 severe frontalcollision. 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

airbag. Whenever possible, larger

children should sit in the back seat,
properly restrained by a seat belt. (See page 35 for important
information about protecting larger
children.)
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Protecting Children

U.S. Models
To remind you of the passenger airbag hazards, and that children
must be properly restrained in the
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. If You Must Drive With Several
Children
Your vehicle has three seating positions in the back seat wherechildren can be properly restrained.
If you ever have to carry more than
three children in your vehicle:
Place the largest child in the frontseat, 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 10).
Have the child sit upright and well
back in the seat (see page 16). Make sure the seat belt is properly
positioned and secured (see page 13).

Driver and Passenger Safety

Children Can Be KILLED or INJURED
by Passenger Airbag

The back seat is the safest place for children 12 and under. Make sure all children use seat belts or child seats.Main Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Children

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 them to hazards from the airbag, and paying close attention to
a child distracts the driver from the
important tasks of driving, creating serious safety risks.
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 Precaution
Do not leave children alone in your
vehicle. Leaving children without
adult supervision is illegal in most states 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 installing
child 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
Standards. 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
rear-facing seats provide the support
an infant needs to protect their head,
neck, and back. See page 27 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 31 for additional information on protectingsmall children.

CONTINUED

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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.
Whenever possible, we recommend
that parents test a child seat in the specific vehicle seating position (or
positions) where they intend to use
the seat before making a purchase. 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 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 securea 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-facing
child seat with the seat belt, (see
page 32). CONTINUED

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.Main Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Children

Installing a Child Seat

After selecting a proper child seat, and a good place 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 belt or 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 28 and 32 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 forward-and-backward
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 and
be seriously injured in a crash.

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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Protecting Children
Protecting Infants
Child Seat Type
To provide proper support for a baby's head, neck and back, infants
up to about one year of age must be
restrained in a rear-facing child seat.
Two types of seats may be used: a seat designed exclusively for infants,
or a convertible seat used in the rear-
facing, reclining mode. We recommend that an infant stay in
a rear-facing child seat as long as
possible, until they reach the seat maker's weight or height limit and
are able to sit up without support.
Infant Seat Placement

In this vehicle, a rear-facing child seat can be placed in any seating
position in the back seat, but not in
the front seat.

Never put a rear-facing child seat in
the front seat. If the passenger's
airbag inflates, it can hit the back of
the child seat with enough force to
kill or seriously injure an infant. If an infant must be closely watched, we
recommend that another adult sit in
the back seat with the baby.

Do not put a rear-facing child seat in
a forward-facing position. If an

infant faces forward, they could be
very seriously injured during a
frontal collision.

CONTINUED

Driver and Passenger Safety

Placing a rear-facing child seat
in the front seat can result in
serious injury or death if the
airbags inflate.
Always place a rear-facing child seat in the back seat, not the

front.Main Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Children

Installing an Infant Seat With a Lap/
Shoulder Belt

The lap/shoulder belts in the outer back seats have a locking
mechanism that must be activated tosecure a child seat.
The following pages provide instructions on how to secure a rear-
facing child seat with this type of seat belt. See page 30 for how to secure a rear-
facing child seat in the center back
seat with the lap belt. See page 30 for
tips on installing an infant seat with either type of seat belt.
1. With the child seat in the desiredback seating position, route the
belt through the child seataccording to the seat maker's
instructions, then insert the latch
plate into the buckle.

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