warning MAZDA MODEL 3 5-DOOR 2014 User Guide

2–16
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
Seat Belt Warning Systems
If it detects that the driver's seat belt is
unfastened, the warning light or beep
alerts the driver.
Refer to Warning/Indicator Lights on page
4-16 .
Front Seat Belt
Pretensioner and Load
Limiting Systems
For optimum protection, the driver and
front passenger seat belts are equipped
with pretensioner and load limiting
systems. For both these systems to work
properly you must wear the seat belt
properly.
Pretensioners:
When a collision is detected, the
pretensioners deploy simultaneously with
the air bags.
For vehicles with the front passenger
occupant classifi cation system, the
pretensioners deploy simultaneously
with the air bags when a roll-over is also
detected.
For deployment details, refer to the SRS
Air Bag Deployment Criteria (page 2-53 ).
The front seat belt retractors remove slack
quickly as the air bags are expanding.
Any time the air bags and seat belt
pretensioners have fi red they must be
replaced.
A system malfunction or operation
conditions are indicated by a warning.
Refer to Warning/Indicator Lights on page
4-16 .
Refer to Air Bag/Front Seat Belt
Pretensioner System Warning Beep on
page 7-34 .
(With Front Passenger Occupant
Classifi cation System)
In addition, the pretensioner system for
the front passenger, like the front and side
passenger air bag, is designed to only
deploy in accordance with the total seated
weight on the front passenger seat.
For details, refer to the front passenger
seat weight sensors (page 2-56 ).
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2–17
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
Load limiter:
The load limiting system releases belt
webbing in a controlled manner to reduce
belt force on the occupant's chest. While
the most severe load on a seat belt occurs
in frontal collisions, the load limiter has
an automatic mechanical function and
can activate in any accident mode with
suffi cient occupant movement.
Even if the pretensioners have not fi red,
the load limiting function must be checked
by an Authorized Mazda Dealer.
WARNING
Wear seat belts only as recommended in
this owner's manual: Incorrect positioning of the driver
and front passenger seat belts
is dangerous. Without proper
positioning, the pretensioner and
load limiting systems cannot provide
adequate protection in an accident
and this could result in serious injury.
For more details about wearing seat
belts, refer to "Fastening the seat belts"
(page 2-15 ).

Have your seat belts changed
immediately if the pretensioner or load
limiter has been expended: Always have an Authorized Mazda
Dealer immediately inspect the front
seat belt pretensioners and air bags
after any collision. Like the air bags, the
front seat belt pretensioners and load
limiters will only function once and
must be replaced after any collision
that caused them to deploy. A seat
belt with an expended pretensioner or
load limiter is still better than wearing
no seat belt at all; however, if the
front seat belt pretensioners and load
limiters are not replaced, the risk of
injury in a collision will increase. Do not modify the components or
wiring, or use electronic testing devices
on the pretensioner system:
Modifying the components or wiring
of the pretensioner system, including
the use of electronic testing devices
is dangerous. You could accidentally
activate it or make it inoperable which
would prevent it from activating in an
accident. The occupants or repairers
could be seriously injured.

Properly dispose of the pretensioner
system: Improper disposal of the pretensioner
system or a vehicle with non-
deactivated pretensioners is
dangerous. Unless all safety
procedures are followed, injury
could result. Have an Authorized
Mazda Dealer safely dispose of
the pretensioner system or scrap a
pretensioner system equipped vehicle.
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2–19
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
3. Adjust the belt length.
To lengthen the belt, hold the seat belt tongue at a right angle to the webbing
and pull. To shorten, pull the loose end
of the webbing.
Lengthen
Shorten
4. Make sure the lap belt is snugly fi tted
against your body.
WARNING
Wearing the Lap Belt: A lap belt worn too high is dangerous.
In a collision, this would concentrate
the impact force directly on the
abdominal area, causing serious
injury. Wear the lap belt snugly and as
low as possible.
Unfastening the Seat Belt
Depress the button on the seat belt buckle.
Button
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2–20
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
Seat Belt Extender
If your seat belt is not long enough, even
when fully extended, a seat belt extender
may be available to you at no charge from
your Authorized Mazda Dealer.
This extender will be only for you and for
the particular vehicle and seat. Even if it
plugs into other seat belts, it may not hold
in the critical moment of a crash.
When ordering an extender, only order
one that provides the necessary additional
length to fasten the seat belt properly.
Please contact your Authorized Mazda
Dealer for more information.
WARNING
Do not use a seat belt extender unless it
is necessary: Using a seat belt extender when not
necessary is dangerous. The seat belt
will be too long and not fi t properly.
In an accident, the seat belt will not
provide adequate protection and you
could be seriously injured. Only use the
extender when it is required to fasten
the seat belt properly.
Do not use an improper extender:
Using a seat belt extender that is for
another person or a diff erent vehicle
or seat is dangerous. The seat belt will
not provide adequate protection and
the user could be seriously injured in
an accident. Only use the extender
provided for you and for the particular
vehicle and seat. NEVER use the
extender in a diff erent vehicle or seat.
If you sell your Mazda, do not leave
your seat belt extender in the vehicle. It
could be used accidentally by the new
owner of the vehicle. After removing
the seat belt extender, discard it. Never
use the seat belt extender in any other
vehicle you may own in the future.

Do not use an extender that is too long: Using an extender that is too long is
dangerous. The seat belt will not fi t
properly. In an accident, the seat belt
will not provide adequate protection
and you could be seriously injured.
Do not use the extender or choose
one shorter in length if the distance
between the extender's buckle and the
center of the user's body is less than 15
cm (6 in).

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2–21
Essential Safety Equipment
Seat Belt Systems
Do not leave a seat belt extender
connected to the buckle: Leaving a seat belt extender connected
to the buckle without using the seat
belt is dangerous. When the seat
belt extender is connected to the
driver's seat belt buckle (or front
passenger) seat, the SRS driver's (or
front passenger's) air bag system will
determine that the driver (or front
passenger) is wearing the seat belt
even if the driver (or front passenger)
is not wearing it. This condition could
cause the driver's (or front passenger's)
air bag to not activate correctly and
result in death or serious injury in the
event of collision. Always wear the seat
belt with the seat belt extender.

Do not use the seat belt extender when
installing a child-restraint system on the
front or rear passenger seat: Using a seat belt extender to fasten
a child-restraint system on any seat
is dangerous. Always follow the
child-restraint system manufacturer's
installation instructions and never use
a seat belt extender.
NOTE
When not in use, remove the seat belt
extender and store it in the vehicle. If the
seat belt extender is left connected, the
seat belt extender might get damaged
as it will not retract with the rest of the
seat belt and can easily fall out of the
door when not in use and be damaged. In
addition, the seat belt warning light will
not illuminate and function properly.
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2–23
Essential Safety Equipment
Child-Restraint
WARNING
Use the correct size child-restraint system: For eff ective protection in vehicle accidents and sudden stops, a child must be properly
restrained using a seat belt or child-restraint system depending on age and size. If not, the
child could be seriously injured or even killed in an accident.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions and always keep the child-restraint system
buckled down: An unsecured child-restraint system is dangerous. In a sudden stop or a collision it could
move causing serious injury or death to the child or other occupants. Make sure any
child-restraint system is properly secured in place according to the child-restraint system
manufacturer's instructions. When not in use, remove it from the vehicle or fasten it
with a seat belt, or latch it down to BOTH LATCH lower anchors for LATCH child-restraint
systems and the corresponding tether anchor.

Always secure a child in a proper child-restraint system: Holding a child in your arms while the vehicle is moving is extremely dangerous. No
matter how strong the person may be, he or she cannot hold onto a child in a sudden
stop or collision and it could result in serious injury or death to the child or other
occupants. Even in a moderate accident, the child may be exposed to air bag forces that
could result in serious injury or death to the child, or the child may be slammed into an
adult, causing injury to both child and adult.

Never use a rear-facing child-restraint system in the front seat with an air bag that
could deploy: Rear-facing child-restraint systems on the front seat are particularly dangerous even
though you may feel assured that a front passenger air bag will not deploy based on
the fact that the front passenger air bag deactivation indicator light illuminates. The
child-restraint system can be hit by a deploying air bag and moved violently backward
resulting in serious injury or death to the child.
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2–24
Essential Safety Equipment
Child-Restraint
(U.S.A. and Canada)
Vehicles with a front passenger air bag have a warning label attached as shown below.
The warning label reminds you not to put a rear-facing child-restraint system on the front
passenger seat at any time.
(Mexico)
NEVER use a rearward facing child restraint on a seat protected by an ACTIVE AIRBAG in
front of it, DEATH or SERIOUS INJURY to the CHILD can occur.
Vehicles with a front passenger air bag have a warning label attached as shown below.
The warning label reminds you not to put a rear-facing child-restraint system on the front
passenger seat at any time.

Do not install a front-facing child-restraint system on the front passenger seat unless it
is unavoidable: In a collision, the force of a deploying air bag could cause serious injury or death to the
child. If installing a front-facing child-restraint system on the front passenger seat is
unavoidable, move the front passenger seat as far back as possible.
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2–28
Essential Safety Equipment
Child-Restraint
Installing Child-Restraint
Systems
Accident statistics reveal that a child is
safer in the rear seat. The front passenger's
seat is clearly the worst choice for any
child under 12, and with rear-facing child-
restraint systems it is clearly unsafe due to
air bags.
NOTE
Even if your vehicle is equipped with front
passenger seat weight sensors (page 2-
56), which automatically deactivates the
front passenger air bag, a rear seat is the
safest place for a child of any age or size.
Some child-restraint systems now come
with tethers and therefore must be
installed on the seats that take tethers
to be effective. In your Mazda, tethered
child-restraint systems can only be
accommodated in the three positions on
the rear seat.
Some child-restraint systems also employ
specially designed LATCH attachments;
refer to "Using LATCH Lower Anchor"
(page 2-36 ).
WARNING
Tethered Child-Restraint Systems Work
Only on Tether-Equipped Rear Seats: Installation of a tether equipped
child-restraint system in the front
passenger's seat defeats the safety
design of the system and will result in
an increased chance of serious injury if
the child-restraint system goes forward
without benefi t of being tethered.
Place tether equipped child-restraint
systems where there are tether
anchors.
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2–29
Essential Safety Equipment
Child-Restraint
Anchor Bracket
Anchor brackets for securing child-
restraint systems are equipped in the
vehicle. Locate each anchor position using
the illustration.
To install a child-restraint system,
always follow the instruction manual
accompanying the child-restraint system.
Anchor bracket location
Use the indicated anchor bracket locations
when installing a child-restraint system
equipped with a tether.
A nc hor br ac k etF or right
F or lef t
F or c enter
(4-Door)
(5-Door)
For left
For centerFor r ightSom e m odels.
WARNING
Always attach the tether strap to the
correct tether anchor position: Attaching the tether strap to the
incorrect tether anchor position is
dangerous. In a collision, the tether
strap could come off and loosen the
child-restraint system. If the child-
restraint system moves it could result
in death or injury to the child.

Always route the tether strap between
the head restraint and the seatback: Routing the tether strap on top of
the head restraint is dangerous. In a
collision the tether strap could slide off
the head restraint and loosen the child-
restraint system. The child-restraint
system could move which may result in
death or injury to the child.
A nchor br acket
Tether str ap(4-Door)
A nchor br acket
Tether str ap
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2–31
Essential Safety Equipment
Child-Restraint
5. Push the child-restraint system fi rmly
into the vehicle seat. Be sure the
belt retracts as snugly as possible. A
clicking noise from the retractor will be
heard during retraction if the system is
in the automatic locking mode. If the
belt does not lock the seat down tight,
repeat this step.
NOTE
Inspect this function before each use of
the child-restraint system. You should
not be able to pull the shoulder belt out
of the retractor while the system is in the
automatic locking mode. When you remove
the child-restraint system, be sure the
belt fully retracts to return the system to
emergency locking mode before occupants
use the seat belts.
6. If your child-restraint system requires the use of a tether strap, refer to the
manufacturer's instructions to hook and
tighten the tether strap.
WARNING
Use the tether and tether anchor only
for a child-restraint system: Using the tether or tether anchor to
secure anything but a child-restraint
system is dangerous. This could
weaken or damage the tether or tether
anchor and result in injury.

Always route the tether strap between
the head restraint and the seatback: Routing the tether strap on top of
the head restraint is dangerous. In a
collision the tether strap could slide off
the head restraint and loosen the child-
restraint system. The child-restraint
system could move which may result in
death or injury to the child.
A nchor br acket
Tether str ap(4-Door)

A nchor br acket
Tether str ap

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