seats HONDA ODYSSEY 2000 RA6-RA9 / 2.G Owners Manual

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

This sectio
n gives you important

information about how to protect

yourself and your passengers. It
shows you how to use seat belts
properly. It explains your Supple-
mental Restraint System. And it tells

you how to properly restrain infants
and children in your vehicle.

Important Safety Precautions ..........

6

Your Vehicle'
s Safety Features........

7

Seat
Belts.......................................
.

8

Airbags............................................
9

Seat
s & Seat-Backs......................

10

Head
Restraints..........................
. 10

Door Locks................................... 10
Pre-Drive Safety Checklist......... 11

Protecting Adults............................. 12

1. Close and Lock the Doors...... 12
2. Adjust the Front Seats............ 12 3. Adjust the Seat-Backs............. 13
4. Adjust the Head Restraints.... 14 5. Fasten and Position the Seat
Belts...................................... 15

6. Adjust the Steering Wheel.....

19

7. Maintai
n a Proper Sitting

Position................................. 19
Advice for Pregnant Women...... 20
Additional Safety Precautions.... 20
Protecting Children......................... 22 All Children Must Be
Restrained................................ 22
Children Should Sit in the Back
Seat............................................ 23

The Passenger's Airbag Poses Serious Risks to Children....... 23
If You Must Drive with Several Children.................................... 25
If a Child Requires Close Attention................................... 25 Additional Safety Precautions.... 25
General Guidelines for Using Child Seats................................ 26
Protecting Infants........................ 30
Protecting Small Children.......... 35
Protecting Larger Children........ 39
Using Child Seats with Tethers......................................

43

Additional Informatio
n About Your
Seat Belts.................................. 45
Seat Belt System Components... 45
Lap/Shoulder Belt....................... 45
Seat Belt Maintenance................ 47
Additional Information About Your
SRS............................................
48

SRS Components........................
.
48

How
You
r Airbags Work............ 48

How the Automatic Seat Belt
Tensioners Work..................... 50

How the SRS Indicator Light
Works........................................ 50

SRS Service...................................
51

Additional Safet
y Precautions.... 52

Carbon Monoxide Hazard.............. 53

Safety Labels.................................... 54

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

Your Vehicle's Safety Features

(1) Safety Cage

(2) Crush Zones

(3

) Seats & Seat-Backs

(4) Head Restraints

(5)
Collapsible Steering Column

(6) Seat Belts

(7)

Airbags

(8)

Seat Belt Tensioners

(9)

Door Locks
Your vehicle is equipped with many
features that work together to protect

you and your passengers
during a crash.
Some safety features do not require
any action on your part. These
include

a strong steel framework
that

forms a safety cage around the
passenger
compartment; front and
rear crush zones that are designed to
crumple and absorb energy during a
crash;

a collapsible steering column;
and seat belt tensioners that
automatically tighten the front seat belts in the event of a crash.
These safety features are designed to reduce the severity of injuries in acrash.

However, you and your
passengers

can't take full advantage
of these safety features unless you
remain

sitting in a proper position

and always wear your seat belts

properly. I
n fact, some safety
features can contribute to injuries if they

are not used properly.

Driver and Passenger Safety

Your Vehicle' s Safet y Feature s
Seat Belt s
For your safety, and the safety of
your passengers, your vehicle is equipped with seat belts in all seating
positions.
Your seat belt system alsoincludes a light on the
instrument panel to remind you and
your passengers to fasten your seat belts.
Why Wear Seat Belts
Seat belts are the single mosteffective safety device for adults and
larger children. (Infants and smaller
children must be properly restrained
in child seats.)
Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
though your vehicle has airbags. In addition, most states and all
Canadian provinces require you to
wear seat belts.
When properly worn, seat belts: Keep you connected to the vehicleso you can take advantage of the
vehicle's built-in safety features.
Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including side and
rear impacts and rollovers. (Your
airbag can only be helpful in a
moderate to severe frontal
collision.)
Help keep you from being thrown against the inside of the vehicle
and against other occupants.
Keep you from being thrown out
of the vehicle.
Help keep you in a good position should the airbags ever deploy. A
good position reduces the risk of injury from an inflating airbag, and
allows you to get the best
advantage from the airbag.
Of course, seat belts cannot
completely protect you in every
crash. But in most cases, seat belts
can reduce your risk of serious
injury.
What you should do: Always wear
your seat belt, and make sure you wear it properly.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
if you have airbags.
Be sure you and your
passengers always wear seat
belts and wear them properly.

Your Vehicle' s Safet y Feature s
Seats & Seat-Back s
Your vehicle's seats are designed to keep you in a comfortable, uprightposition so you can take fulladvantage of the protection offered
by seat belts and the energy absorbing materials in the seats.
How you adjust your seats and seat-
backs can also affect your safety. For example, sitting too close to the
steering wheel or dashboard
increases the risk of you or your
passenger being injured by striking
the inside of the vehicle, or by an inflating airbag.
Reclining a seat-back too far reduces
the seat belt's effectiveness and increases the chance that the seat'soccupant will slide under the seat
belt in a crash and be seriously injured.What you should do: Move the front
seats as far back as possible, and
keep adjustable seat-backs in an
upright position whenever the
vehicle is moving.
Hea d Restraint s
Head restraints can help protect you
from whiplash and other injuries. For maximum protection, the back of
your head should rest against the center of the head restraint. Doo
r Lock s
Keeping your doors locked reduces
the chance of being thrown out of
the vehicle during a crash. It also
helps prevent occupants from accidentally opening a door and
falling out, and outsiders from unexpectedly opening your doors.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

You
r Vehicle' s Safet y Feature s

Pre-Driv e Safet y Checklis t
To make sure you and your passengers get the maximum
protection from your vehicle's safety
features, check the following each
time before you drive away: All adults, and children who have
outgrown child safety seats, are
wearing their seat belts and
wearing them properly (see page 15).
Any infant or small child is
properly restrained in a child seat

in a back seat (see page 22). Front seat occupants are sitting
upright and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel and dashboard (see page 12). Seat-backs are upright (see page
13). Head restraints are properly
adjusted (see page 14). All doors and the tailgate are
closed and locked (see page 12). All cargo is properly stored or
secured (see page 197).
The rest of this section gives more detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.
Remember, however, that no safety
system can prevent all injuries or
deaths that can occur in severe
crashes, even when seat belts are properly worn and the airbags deploy.

Driver an d Passenge r Safet y

Protecting Adult s
Introductio n
The following pages provide instructions on how to properly
protect the driver and other adult
occupants.
These instructions also apply to children who have outgrown child
seats and are large enough to wear
lap/shoulder belts. (See page 39 for important additional guidelines on
how to properly protect larger
children.) 1
. Clos e an d Loc k th e Door s
After everyone has entered the
vehicle, be sure the doors and tailgate are closed and locked.
Your vehicle has a door and tailgate monitor light on the instrument
panel to indicate when a specific door or the tailgate is not tightly
closed.
For safety, locking the doors reduces
the chance that a passenger, especially a child, will open a door
while the vehicle is moving and accidentally fall out.It also reduces
the chance of someone being thrown out of the vehicle during a crash.
For security, locked doors can
prevent an outsider from
unexpectedly opening a door when
you come to a stop.
See page 79 for how to lock the
doors. 2.Adjus
t th e Fron t Seat s
Any driver who sits too close to the steering wheel is at risk of being
seriously injured or killed by striking
the steering wheel, or from being struck by an inflating airbag during a
crash.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protecting Adult s
To reduce the chance of injury, wear
your seat belt properly, sit upright
with your back against the seat, andmove the seat as far back as possible
from the steering wheel while stillmaintaining full control of the
vehicle. Also make sure your front seat passenger moves the seat as far
to the rear as possible. Most shorter drivers can get far
enough away from the steering
wheel and still reach the pedals. However, if you are concerned aboutsitting too close, we recommend that
you investigate whether some type of adaptive equipment may help.
Once your seat is adjusted correctly,
rock it back and forth to make sure
the seat is locked in position.
See page 100 for how to adjust the
front seats. 3.Adjus
t th e Seat-Back s
Adjust the driver's seat-back to a comfortable, upright position,
leaving ample space between your chest and the airbag cover in the
center of the steering wheel. If you
sit too close to the steering wheel,
you could be injured if the airbag inflates.
CONTINUED
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
Sitting too close to an airbag
can result in serious injury or death if the airbags inflate.
Always sit as far back from the airbags as possible.

Protectin
g Adult s

If necessary, pull up on the belt again
to remove any slack from the shoulder part, then check that the
belt rests across the center of your chest and over your shoulder. Thisspreads the forces of a crash over
the strongest bones in your upper
body. If the seat belt touches or crosses
your neck, or if it crosses your arm instead of your shoulder, you need to
adjust the seat belt anchor height.

RELEAS E

BUTTO N
The front seats and middle row seats have adjustable seat belt anchors. Toadjust the height of a seat belt
anchor, press the release button and
slide the anchor up or down as
needed (it has four positions). Never place the shoulder portion of a
lap/shoulder belt under your arm orbehind your back. This could cause
very serious injuries in a crash.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
Improperly positioning the seat
belts can cause serious injury
or death in a crash.
Make sure all seat belts are
properly positioned before
driving.

Protecting Adult s
6.Adjus t th e Steerin g Whee l
Adjust the steering wheel, if needed, so that the wheel points toward your
chest, not toward your face.
Pointing the steering wheel toward
your chest provides optimal protection from the airbag.
See page 72 for how to adjust the
steering wheel.
7.Maintai n a Prope r Sittin g
Positio n
After all occupants have adjusted
their seats and put on seat belts, it is
very important that they continue to sit upright, well back in their seats,
with their feet on the floor, until the
vehicle is parked and the engine is
off.
Sitting improperly can increase the
chance of injury during a crash. For
example, if an occupant slouches,
lies down, turns sideways, sits
forward, leans forward or sideways, or puts one or both feet up, the
chance of injury during a crash is
greatly increased.
In addition, an occupant who is out of
position in the front seat can beseriously or fatally injured by
striking interior parts of the vehicle,
or by being struck by an inflating
airbag.
Remember, to get the best
protection from your vehicle's airbags and other safety features,
you must sit properly and wear your seat belt properly.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
Sitting improperly or out of
position can result in serious
injury or death in a crash.
Always sit upright, well back in
the seat, with your feet on the
floor.

Protecting Adult s
Advice fo r Pregnan t Wome n
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 and as far back as possible
from the steering wheel or dashboard. 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.Additiona l Safet y Precaution s
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.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y