HONDA PASSPORT 2000 2.G Owner's Manual

Protectin
g Childre n

Children depend on adults to
protect them. However, despite their best intentions, many parents
and other adults may 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.
Al
l Childre n Mus t B e

Restraine d

Each year, many children are injured or killed in vehicle crashes
because they are either
unrestrained or not properly
restrained. In fact, vehicle accidents are the number one
cause of death of children ages 12 and under. To reduce the number of child
deaths and injuries, every state
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 21.)

A larger child should always be
restrained with a seat belt. (See

page 33.)

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
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 properlyrestrained in a child seat. A
larger child should be properly
restrained with a seat belt.

Childre
n Shoul d Si t i n th e
Bac k Sea t
According to accident statistics,
children of all ages and sizes are safer when they are restrained in
the back seat, not the front seat.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
recommends that all children ages 12 and under be properly
restrained in the back seat.
In the back seat, children are lesslikely to be injured by striking
hard interior parts during a
collision or hard braking. Also,
children cannot be injured by an inflating airbag when they ride in
the back.
Th
e Passenger' s Airba g

Pose s Seriou s Risk s t o

Childre n

Airbags have been designed to
help protect adults in a moderate to severe frontal collision. 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 inflatingairbag can strike the child with
enough force to kill or very seriously injure a small child.
Larger Children Children who have outgrownchild seats are also at risk of
being injured or killed by an
inflating passenger's airbag.
Whenever possible, larger
children should sit in the back seat, properly restrained with a
seat belt. (See page 33 for
important information about
protecting larger children.)
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

To remind you of the passenger's
airbag hazards, and that children
must be properly restrained in the
back seat, your vehicle haswarning labels on the dashboard,
and on the driver's and front
passenger's visors. Please read and follow the instructions on

these labels.
I
f Yo u Mus t Driv e Wit h

Severa l Childre n

Your vehicle has three seating
positions in the back seat where
children can be properly

restrained.

If you ever have to carry morethan three children in your
vehicle: Place the largest child in the
front seat, provided the child is
large enough to wear a seat belt
properly (see page 33). Move the vehicle seat as far to
the rear as possible (see page

89).

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). I
f a Chil d Require s Clos e

Attentio n

Many parents say they prefer to
put an infant or small child in the front passenger seat so they canwatch 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 thechild in the back seat. The backseat is far safer for a child than the

front.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Additiona
l Safet y
Precaution s

Use child-safe 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 101). Use the main power window

switch to prevent children

from opening the rear windows. Using this feature
will prevent children from
playing with the windows, which could expose them to
hazards or distract the driver (see page 103). Do not leave children alone in
your vehicle. Leaving children without adult supervision isillegal 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 heat stroke. And
children left alone with the key in the ignition can accidentally
set the vehicle in motion,
possibly injuring themselves or
others.
Genera l Guideline s fo r
Usin g Chil d Seat s
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. Th
e child
seat should meet Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
213 (FMVSS 213). 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.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Infants: Children up to about one
yea
r old should be restrained in a
rear-facing
, reclining child seat.
Only a rear-facing seat provides
the proper support to protect an
infant's head, neck, and back. See
page

25 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 29 for additional information on protecting small 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
vehicl

e 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.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

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 Seal

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 theseat belt (see page 30).

Back Seats

Infants: Recommended positions. Secure a rear-facing child seat
with the seat belt (see page 25).
Small children: Recommended positions. Secure a front-facing
child seat with the seat belt (see
page 30).Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
Airbag s Pos e
Seriou
s
Risk s t o Childre n
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 farforward, 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 in this section.

Installing a Child Seat

After selecting a proper child seat,
and a good position to install theseat, there are three main steps to
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 belt or
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 25 and 30 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
properly strapped 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 childseat, either remove it and store it
in a safe place, or make sure it is
properly secured. An unsecured
child seat can be thrown around
the vehicle during a crash or sudden stop and injure someone.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

Protectin
g Infant s

Child Seat Type
Only a rear-facing child seat
provides 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 be
restrained in a rear-facing child seat until the infant reaches theseat maker's weight or height
limit and is able to sit up without support. Rear-Facing Child Seat

Placement

In this vehicle, a rear-facing childseat 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 seriouslyinjure 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 placed facing forward, an infant

could be very seriously injured

during a frontal collision.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

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.

Installing a Rear-Facing Child
Seat With a Lap/Shoulder Belt
The lap/shoulder belts in the outer
back seats have a locking mechanism 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 of seat belt.
See page 28 for how to secure a
rear-facing child seat in the center
back seat with the lap belt. For
tips on installing an infant seat
with either type of seat belt, see
page 28.
1. With the child seat in the
desired back seating position,
route the belt through the child seat according 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 theway out until it stops, then let
the belt feed back into the
retractor (you might hear a clicking noise as the belt

retracts).

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y

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 anyslack from the lap part of the
belt.
Remember, if the lap part of the belt is not tight, the childseat 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 not secure,
unlatch the belt, allow it to
retract fully, then repeat these
steps.

Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y