weight HONDA CIVIC COUPE 1998 Owners Manual

Your Vehicle's Safety Features

Airbags

Your vehicle has a SupplementalRestraint System (SRS) with frontal
airbags to help protect the driver and
a front seat passenger.
This system also includesan indicator light on the
instrument panel to alert you to a
possible problem with the system. Following are the most important
things you need to know about your

airbags.
Airbags do not replace seat belts.
They supplement seat belts by providing extra protection for the
heads and chests of front seat

occupants.
Airbags offer no protection in side
impacts, rear impacts, rollovers,or minor or moderate collisions.
Airbags are designed to deploy only during a severe frontal
collision (such as a 25 mph [40
km/h] crash into a parked car of similar size and weight). Airbags can pose serious hazards.
To do their job, airbags must inflate with tremendous force andspeed. So while airbags save lives,
they can cause serious injuries to adults and larger children who are
not wearing seat belts, are not wearing them properly, are sitting
too close to the airbag, or are notsitting in a good position. Infants
and small children are at an even
greater risk of injury or death.

What you should do: Always wear

your seat belt properly and sit upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel or
dashboard.

Driver and Passenger Safety
SRSMain Menu Table of Contents s t

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

2. To activate the lockable retractor, slowly pull the shoulder part of the
belt all the way out until it stops,
then let the belt feed back into the
retractor (you might hear a clicking noise as the belt retracts).
3. After the belt has retracted, tug on it. If the belt is locked, you will not
be able to pull it out. If you can pull
the belt out, it is not locked and
you will need to repeat these steps. 4. After confirming that the belt is
locked, grab the shoulder part of
the belt near the buckle and pull
up to remove any slack from the
lap part of the belt. Remember, if the lap part of the belt is not tight,
the child seat will not be secure.
To remove slack, it may help to put weight on the child seat, or
push on the back of the seat while
pulling up on the belt. 5. Push and pull the child seat
forward and from side to side to
verify that it is secure enough to stay upright during normal driving
maneuvers. If the child seat is notsecure, unlatch the belt, allow it to
retract fully, then repeat these
steps.

To deactivate the locking mechanism in order to remove a
child seat, unlatch the buckle,
unroute the seat belt, and let the belt
fully retract. CONTINUED
Driver and Passenger SafetyMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Children

Installing an Infant Seat With the
Lap Belt

To install a rear-facing child seat in the center back seat with the lap belt,
follow instruction number 1 on page 28 for routing and latching the seat
belt. Then pull hard on the loose end of the belt to remove any slack (it
may help to put weight on the child
seat while pulling on the belt).
Finally, follow instruction number 5
of page 29 to verify that the child
seat is secure.
Infant Seat Installation Tips

For proper protection, an infant must
ride in a reclined, or semi-reclined
position. To determine the proper
reclining angle, check with the baby's doctor or follow the seat maker's
recommendations.
To achieve the desired reclining angle, it may help to put a rolled up
towel under the toe of the child seat, as shown above. When properly installed a rear-facing
child seat may prevent the driver or
a front-seat passenger from moving
their seat as far back as recommended (see page 10). Or itmay prevent the seat-back fromlocking in the desired upright
position (see page 11).
In either case, we recommend that
you place the child seat directly behind the front passenger seat,
move the front seat as far forward as
needed, and leave it unoccupied. You
may also wish to get a smaller childseat that allows you to safely carry a
front passenger.

Driver and Passenger SafetyMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Children

Additional Precautions for Infants
Never hold a baby on your lap. If

you are not wearing a seat belt in a crash, you could be thrown
forward into the dashboard and crush the child.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the
baby can be torn from your arms.
For example, if the vehicle crashes
into a parked vehicle at 30 mph (48 km/h), a 20 Ib (9 kg) baby will
become a 600-lb (275-kg) force,
and you will not be able to hold it.
Never put a seat belt over yourself

and a baby. During a crash, the

belt could press deep into the child
and cause very serious injuries.
Protecting Small Children
Child Seat Type
A child who can sit up without support, and who fits within the child
seat maker's weight and height
limits, should be restrained in a
forward-facing, upright child seat.
Of the different seats available, we
recommend those that have a five-
point harness system as shown. We also recommend that a small
child stay in the child seat as long as
possible, until they reach the weightor height limit for the seat.
Child Seat Placement
In this vehicle, the best place to
install a forward-facing child seat is
in one of the seating positions in the
back seat.

Placing a forward-facing child seat in the front seat of a vehicle equipped
with a passenger 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 passenger's airbag canstrike the child with enough force to
cause very serious or fatal injuries. If
a small child must be closely
watched, we recommend that another adult sit in the back seat
with the child.
Driver and Passenger Safety
CONTINUEDMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Children

2. To activate the lockable retractor, slowly pull the shoulder part of the
belt all the way out until it stops,
then let the belt feed back into the
retractor (you might hear a clicking noise as the belt retracts).
3. After the belt has retracted, tug on it. If the belt is locked, you will not
be able to pull it out. If you can pull the belt out, it is not locked and
you will need to repeat these steps.
4. After confirming that the belt is

locked, grab the shoulder part of
the belt near the buckle and pull
up to remove any slack from the

lap part of the belt. Remember, if
the lap part of the belt is not tight,

the child seat will not be secure. It
may help to put weight on the

child seat, or push on the back of

the seat while pulling up on the
belt.
5. Push and pull the child seat
forward and from side to side to
verify that it is secure enough tostay upright during normal driving
maneuvers. If the child seat is not secure, unlatch the belt, allow it to
retract fully, then repeat these

steps.

CONTINUED

Driver and Passenger SafetyMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Children

To deactivate the locking mechanism in order to remove a

child seat, unlatch the buckle,

unroute the seat belt, and let the belt

fully retract.
Installing a Child Seat With the Lap

Belt

To install a forward-facing child seat in the center back seat with the lap
belt, follow instruction number 1 on
page 32 for routing and latching the seat belt. Then pull hard on the loose
end of the belt to remove any slack (it may help to put weight on the
child seat while pulling on the belt).
Finally, follow instruction number 5
on page 33 to verify that the child
seat is secure.
Additional Precautions for Small
Children
Never
hold a small ch \
ild on your

lap. If you are not wearing a seat
belt in a crash, you could be thrown forward into thedashboard and crush the child.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the
child can be torn from your arms during a crash. For example, if the
vehicle crashes into a parked
vehicle at 30 mph (48 km/h), a 30 Ib (14 kg) child will become a
900-lb (410-kg) force, and you will
not be able to hold it.
Never put a seat belt over yourself

and a child. During a crash, the
belt could press deep into the child and cause very serious injuries.
Driver and Passenger SafetyMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Protecting Children

Protecting Larger Children
When a child reaches the recommended weight or height limit
for a forward-facing child seat, the child should sit in one of the outer
back seats and wear a lap/shoulder belt. The lap/shoulder belt provides
better protection than the lap belt.
If a child is too short for the shoulder
part of the belt to properly fit, we
recommend that the child use a
booster seat until they are tall enough to use the seat belt without a

booster.

The following pages give instructions on how to check properseat belt fit, what kind of booster
seat to use if one is needed, and
important precautions for children
who must sit in the front seat.
Checking Seat Belt Fit
To determine whether a lap/ shoulder belt properly fits a child,
first have the child put on the seat
belt, following the instructions on
page 13 . Then check how the belt
fits.

CONTINUED

Driver and Passenger Safety

Allowing a larger child to sit
improperly in the front seat can
result in injury or death if the

airbags inflate.
If a larger child must sit in front,

they should move the seat as

far back as possible and wear
their seat belt properly.Main Menu Table of Contents s t

Keys and Locks

Trunk

You can open the trunk in two ways: Pull the trunk release handle to
the left of the driver's seat.
Use the master key to open the
trunk lock. The valet key does not
work in this lock. To close the trunk, press down on
the trunk lid.
See page 98 for cargo loading and
weight limit information. Keep the trunk lid closed at all times whiledriving to avoid damaging the lid,
and to prevent exhaust gas from
gettin
g
into the interior. See Carbon

Monoxide Hazar d
on page 47.To protect items in the trunk when
you need to give the key to someoneelse, lock the trunk release handle
with the master key and give the other person the valet key.
Instruments and Controls

MASTER KEY

MASTER KEY

TRUNK RELEASE HANDLEMain Menu Table of Contents s t

Fuel Economy

The condition of your vehicle and your driving habits are the two mostimportant things that affect the fuel
mileage you get.
Vehicle Condition Always maintain your vehicle accord- ing to the maintenance schedule.
This will keep it in top operating
condition.

An important part of that mainte- nance is the Owner Maintenance
Checks (see page 153). For
example, an underinflated tire
causes more "rolling resistance,"
which uses fuel. It also wears out
faster, so check the tire pressure at
least monthly.
In winter, the build-up of snow on
your vehicle's underside adds weight and rolling resistance. Frequent
cleaning helps your fuel mileage and
reduces the chance of corrosion. Driving Habits
You can improve fuel economy by driving moderately. Rapid acceler-
ation, abrupt cornering, and hard
braking use more fuel.
Always drive in the highest gear that allows the engine to run and acceler-ate smoothly.
Depending on traffic conditions, try
to maintain a constant speed. Every time you slow down and speed up,
your vehicle uses extra fuel. Use the cruise control, when appropriate, to
increase fuel economy. A cold engine uses more fuel than a
warm engine. It is not necessary to "warm-up" a cold engine by letting it
idle for a long time. You can drive
away in about a minute, no matter
how cold it is outside. The engine
will warm up faster, and you get better fuel economy. To cut down on
the number of "cold starts," try tocombine several short trips into one.
The air conditioning puts an extra load on the engine which makes ituse more fuel. Turn off the A/C to
cut down on air conditioning use.
Use the flow-through ventilation
when the outside air temperature is moderate.

Before DrivingMain Menu Table of Contents s t