HONDA RIDGELINE 2007 1.G User Guide

Your vehicle is equipped with many
features that work together to
protect you and your passengers
during a crash.
Some f eatures do not require any
action on your part. These include a
strong steel f ramework that f orms a
saf ety cage around the passenger
compartment, front and rear crush
zones, a collapsible steering column,
and tensioners that tighten the f ront
seat belts in a crash.
However, you and your passengers
can’t take f ull advantage of these
f eatures unless you remain sitting in
a proper position and. In fact, some safety
f eatures can contribute to injuries if
they are not used properly.
The f ollowing pages explain how you
cantakeanactiveroleinprotecting
yourself and your passengers.
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
always wear
your seat belts
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
7
(7) (9) (1)
(2)
(6) (10)
(8)
(5)
(2) (11)
(4)
(3)
(10)
(6) Seat Belts
(7) Front Airbags
(8) Front Seat Belt Tensioners
(9) Door Locks
(10) Side Airbags
(11) Side Curtain Airbags (1) Safety Cage
(2) Crush Zones
(3) Seats and Seat-Backs
(4) Head Restraints
(5) Collapsible Steering Column

Your vehicle is equipped with seat
belts in all seating positions.Keep you f rom being thrown out
of the vehicle. Help keep you f rom being thrown
against the inside of the vehicle
and against other occupants.
Seat belts are the single most
effectivesafetydeviceforadultsand
larger children. (Inf ants 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.
The pickup bed is not equipped with
seats or seat belts. Do not let anyone
ride in the pickup bed as they can
easily be thrown out and be killed or
seriously injured.
In addition, most states and all
Canadian provinces require you to
wear seat belts.
When properly worn, seat belts:Keep you connected to the vehicle
so you can take advantage of the
vehicle’s built-in saf ety f eatures.
Your seat belt system also includes
an indicator on the instrument panel
and a beeper to remind you and your
passengers to f asten your seat belts.
Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including f rontal,
side and rear impacts, and
rollovers.
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
Seat BeltsWhy Wear Seat Belt s
8
Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
though your vehicle has airbags.
Be sure you and your
passengers always wear seat
belts and wear them properly.
Allowing passengers to ride in
the pickup bed or on the tailgate
can result in death or serious
injury in a crash.
Make sure all passengers ride
in a seat and wear a seat belt
properly.

Your vehicle has a supplemental
restraint system (SRS) with front
airbags to help protect the heads and
chests of the driver and a front seat
passenger during a moderate to
severe frontal collision (see page
for more information on how
your front airbags work). Your
vehicle has side airbags to help
protect the upper torso of the driver
or a front seat passenger during a
moderate to severe side impact (see
page f or more inf ormation on how
your side airbags work).
Of course, seat belts cannot
completely protect you in every
crash.Butinmostcases,seatbelts
can reduce your risk of serious
injury.
Help keep you in a good position
should the airbags ever deploy. A
good position reduces the risk of
injury f rom an inf lating airbag and
allows you to get the best
advantage f rom the airbag.
Always wear
your seat belt, and make sure you
wear it properly.
23 26
CONT INUED
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
Airbags
What you should do:
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
9

The rest of this section gives more
detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.
The
most important things you need
to know about your airbags are:
They are designed to supplement
the seat belts.
Your vehicle has side curtain airbags
to help protect the heads of the
driver, front passenger, and
passengers in the outer rear seating
positions during a moderate to
severe side impact or rollover (see
page f or more inf ormation on how
your side curtain airbags work). Remember, however, that no saf ety
system can prevent all injuries or
deaths that can occur in a severe
crash, even when seat belts are
properly worn and the airbags deploy.Always wear
your seat belt properly, and sit
upright and as f ar back f rom the
steering wheel as possible while
allowing f ull control of the vehicle. A
f ront passenger should move their
seat as far back from the dashboard
as possible.
To do their job, airbags must
inf late with tremendous f orce. So
while airbags help save lives, they
can cause minor injuries or more
serious or even fatal injuries if
occupants are not properly
restrained or sitting properly.
28
Your Vehicle’s Saf ety Features
Airbags do not replace seat belts.
A irbags of f er no prot ect ion in rearimpact s, or minor f ront al or sidecollisions. What you should do:
Airbags can pose serious hazards.
10

µAdjust the driver’s seat as far to the
rear as possible while allowing you to
maintain full control of the vehicl e.
Have a front passenger adjust their
seat as far to the rear as possible.
See
pages for important
guidelines on how to properly
protect infants, small children, and
larger children who ride in your
vehicle. The following pages pro vide
instru ctions on how to properly
protect the driver, adult passengers,
and teenage children who are large
enough and mature enough to drive
or ride in the front.
After everyone has entered the
vehicle, be sure the doors are closed
and locked. Before driving, be sure
the tailgate is also closed.
Lo cking the doors reduces the
ch ance of someone being thro wn out
of the vehicle during a crash, and it
helps prevent passengers from
accidentally opening a door and
falling out. Your
vehicle has a door and
tailgate open monitor on
the instrument panel to indicate
when a specific door or the tailgate is
not tightly closed.
Your vehicle also has an
In-Bed Trunk open
indicator to show when the In-Bed
Trunk lid is not tightly closed (see
page ).
Lo cking the doors also helps prevent
an outsider from unexp ectedly
opening a door when you come to a
stop.
See page for how to lock the
doors, and page for how the door
and tailgate open monitor works.
32 52
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83 64
CONT INUED
Protecting A dults and Teens
Introduction A djust the Front Seats
Close and L ock the Doors
1. 2.
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
11

If you sit too close to the steering
wh eel or dashboard, you can be
seriously injured by an inflating front
ai rbag, or by striking the steering
wh eel or dashboard.
The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration and Transport
Canada recommend that drivers
allow at least 10 inches (25 cm)
between the center of the steering
wheel and the chest.
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.
Passengers with adjustable seat-
backs should also adjust their seat-
back to a comfo rtable, upright
position.
If
you cannot get far enough away
from the steering wheel and still
reach the controls, we recommend
that you investigate whether some
type of adaptive equipment may help. Once your seat is adjusted correctly,
rock it back and f orth to make sure it
is locked into position. See page
f or how to adjust the f ront seats.
98
On RT, RTX, and Canadian LX models
Protecting A dults and Teens
Adjust the Seat-Backs
3.
12
Sitting too close to a front
airbag can result in serious
injury or death if the front
airbags inflate.
Always sit as far back from the
front airbags as possible.

Adjust the driver’s head restraint so
the back of your head rests against
the center of the restraint.
Reclining
a seat-back so that the
shoulder part of the belt no longer
rests against the occupant’s chest
reduces the pro tective capability of
the belt. It also increases the chance
of sliding under the belt in a crash
and being seriously injured. The
farther a seat-back is reclined, the
greater the risk of injury. When
a passenger is seated in the
rear center seating position, make
sure the center head restraint is
ad justed to its highest position.
Properly adjusted head restraints
will help protect occupants from
whiplash and other crash injuries.
See page for how to adjust the
head restraints.
See pages and for how to
adjust the seat-backs. Have passengers adjust their head
restraints properly as well. Taller
persons should adjust their restraint
as high as possible.
98 102
100
Protecting A dults and Teens
A djust the Head Restraints
4.
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
13
Reclining the seat-back too far
can result in serious injury or
death in a crash.
Adjust the seat-back to an
upright position, and sit well
back in the seat. Improperly positioning head
restraints reduces their
effectiveness and you can be
seriously injured in a crash.
Make sure head restraints are
in place and positioned properly
before driving.

Position the lap part of the belt as
low as possible across your hips,
then pull up on the shoulder part of
the belt so the lap part f its snugly.
This lets your strong pelvic bones
take the force of a crash and reduces
the chance of internal injuries.
Insert the latch plate into the buckle,
then tug on the belt to make sure the
belt is securely latched. Check that
the belt is not twisted, because a
twisted belt can cause serious
injuries in a crash.
If necessary, pull up on the belt again
to remove any slack, then check that
the belt rests across the center of
your chest and over your shoulder.
This spreads the f orces 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.
Fasten and Position the Seat
Belts
5.
Protecting A dults and Teens
14
Improperly positioning the seat
belts can cause serious injury
or death in a crash.
Make sure all seat belts are
properly positioned before
driving.

CONTINUED
This could cause
very serious injuries in a crash.
See page f or additional
inf ormation about your seat belts
and how to take care of them.
The front seats have adjustable seat
belt anchors. To adjust the height of
an anchor, squeeze the two release
buttons, and slide the anchor up or
down as needed (it has f our
positions). If a seat belt does not seem to work
as it should, it may not protect the
occupant in a crash.
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
of f .
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 f eet up, the
chance of injury during a crash is
greatly increased.
Using a seat
belt that is not working properly can
result in serious injury or death.
Have your dealer check the belt as
soon as possible.
18
Protecting A dults and Teens
Never place t he shoulder port ion of alap/shoulder belt under your arm orbehind your back.
No one should sit in a seat wit h aninoperat ive seat belt .Maintain a Proper Sitting
Position
6.
Driver and Passenger Saf ety
15
RELEASE
BUTTONS

In addition, an occupant who is out of
position in the f ront seat can be
seriously or f atally injured in a crash
by striking interior parts of the
vehicle or being struck by an
inflating front airbag.If you are pregnant, the best way to
protect yourself and your unborn
child when driving or riding in a
vehicle is to always wear a seat belt,
and keep the lap part of the belt as
low as possible across the hips.When driving, remember to sit
upright and adjust the seat as f ar
back as possible while allowing f ull
control of the vehicle. When riding
as a f ront passenger, adjust the seat
as far back as possible.
This will reduce the risk of injuries
to both you and your unborn child
that can be caused by a crash or an
inflating front airbag.
Each time you have a checkup, ask
your doctor if it’s okay f or you to
drive.
Advice f or Pregnant Women
Protecting A dults and Teens
16
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.