belt HONDA ODYSSEY 1999 Owner's Manual

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

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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Protecting Children

Installing a Rear-Facing Child Seat with a Lap/Shoulder Belt

The lap/shoulder belts in the outer back seats have a lockingmechanism that must be activated to
secure a child seat.
The following pages provide instructions on how to secure a rear-
facing child seat with this type ofseat belt.
See page 33 for how to secure a rear-
facing child seat in the center
position of the third seat with the lap
part of the lap/shoulder belt.
For tips on installing a rear-facingchild seat with either type of seat
belt, see page 34 . 1. With the child seat in the desired
back seating position, route the
belt through the child seataccording to the seat maker's
instructions, then insert the latch plate into the buckle. 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).

CONTINUED

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Protecting Children

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 islocked, 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 scat will not be secure.
To remove slack, it may help to put weight on the child seat, or
push on the back of the scat, 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 not
secure, unlatch the belt, allow it to retract fully, then repeat these

steps.

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Protecting Children

To deactivate the locking mechanism and remove a child seat,
unlatch the buckle, unroute the seat
belt, and let the belt fully retract. Installing a Rear-Facing Child Seat in
the Center Position of the Third Seat
To install a rear-facing child seat in the center position of the third seat,
use the lap part of the lap/shoulderbelt. Follow instruction number 1 on
page 31 for routing and latching theseat 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 32 to verify that the child
seat is secure.

CONTINUED

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Protecting Children

Rear-Facing Child 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'sdoctor 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.
When properly installed, a rear-
facing child seat may prevent the
driver or a front-seat passenger from
moving the seat as far back as
recommended (see page 12 ). Or it
may prevent them from locking the seat-back in the desired upright
position (see page 13).
In either case, we recommend that
you place the child seat in another back seating position, or leave theaffected seat unoccupied. If the
problem cannot be solved, you may
wish to get a smaller rear-facing child seat.
Additional Precautions for Infants
Never hold an infant 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 infant.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the
infant can be torn from your arms. For example, if your vehicle
crashes into a parked vehicle at 30
mph (48 km/h), a 20-lb (9 kg)
infant will become a 600-lb (275
kg) force, and you will not be able
to hold on.
Never put a seat belt over yourself

and an infant. During a crash, the
belt could press deep into the infant and cause very serious
injuries.

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Protecting Children

If it is necessary to put a forward-
facing child seat in the front, move
the vehicle seat as far to the rear as
possible, be sure the child seat is firmly secured to the vehicle, and the
child is properly strapped in the seat.
Installing a Child Seat with a Lap/
Shoulder Belt

The lap/shoulder belts in the outer back and front passenger seating
positions have a locking mechanism
that must be activated to secure a
child seat.
The following pages provide instructions on how to secure a
forward-facing child seat with this type of seat belt.
See page 38 for how to secure a
forward-facing child seat in the
center position of the third seat with
the lap part of the lap/shoulder belt. 1. With the child seat in the desired
seating position, route the belt
through the child seat according
to the seat maker's instructions,
then insert the latch plate into the
buckle.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Improperly placing a forward-
facing child seat in the front seat can result in serious injury
or death if the airbags inflate.
If you must place a forward-
facing child seat in front, move
the vehicle seat as far back as possible and properly restrain
the child.ProCarManuals.comMain Menu Table of Contents s t