belt MAZDA MODEL TRIBUTE HEV 2008 Owner's Guide

How do the side-curtain airbags (if equipped) work?
The design and development of the
side air curtain system included
recommended testing procedures
that were developed by a group of
automotive safety experts known as
the Side Airbag Technical Working
Group. These recommended testing
procedures help reduce the risk of
injuries related to the deployment of
side airbags (including side air
curtain systems).
The side-curtain airbags (if
equipped) consists of the following:
•An inflatable nylon curtain with a
gas generator concealed behind
the headliner and above the doors
(one on each side of vehicle).
• A headliner designed to flex open
above the side doors to allow side-curtain airbag deployment.
• The same warning light, electronic control and diagnostic unit as used
for the front airbags.
• Two crash sensors mounted at lower B-Pillar (one on each side).
• Two crash sensors located at the c-pillar behind the rear doors (one
on each side).
• Rollover sensor in the restraints control module (RCM).
The side-curtain airbags (if equipped), in combination with seat belts,
can help reduce the risk of severe injuries in the event of a significant
side impact collision or rollover event.
Children 12 years old and under should always be properly restrained in
the rear seats. The side-curtain airbags (if equipped) will not interfere
with children restrained using a properly installed child or booster seat
because it is designed to inflate downward from the headliner above the
doors along the side window opening.
The side-curtain airbags (if equipped) are designed to activate when the
vehicle sustains lateral deceleration sufficient to cause the RCM to
initiate side-curtain airbag (if equipped) inflation or when a certain
likelihood of a rollover event is detected by the rollover sensor.
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Children and seat belts
If the child is the proper size, restrain the child in a safety seat. Children
who are too large for child safety seats (as specified by your child safety
seat manufacturer) should always wear seat belts.
Follow all the important safety restraint and airbag precautions that
apply to adult passengers in your vehicle.
If the shoulder belt portion of a combination lap and shoulder belt can
be positioned so it does not cross or rest in front of the child’s face or
neck, the child should wear the lap and shoulder belt. Moving the child
closer to the center of the vehicle may help provide a good shoulder belt
fit.WARNING: Do not leave children, unreliable adults, or pets
unattended in your vehicle.
Child booster seats
Children outgrow a typical convertible or toddler seat when they weigh
40 lb. (18 kg) and are around 4 years of age. Although the lap/shoulder
belt will provide some protection, these children are still too small for
lap/shoulder belts to fit properly, which could increase the risk of serious
injury in a crash.
To improve the fit of both the lap and shoulder belt on children who
have outgrown child safety seats, Mazda Motor Corporation recommends
use of a belt-positioning booster.
Booster seats position a child so that seat belts fit better. They lift the
child up so that the lap belt rests low across the hips and the knees
bend comfortably. Booster seats may also make the shoulder belt fit
better and more comfortably. Try to keep the belt near the middle of the
shoulder.
When children should use booster seats
Children need to use booster seats from the time they outgrow the
toddler seat until they are big enough for the vehicle seat and
lap/shoulder belt to fit properly. Generally this is when they weigh about
80 lb. (36 kg) (about 8 to 12 years old).
Booster seats should be used until you can answer YES to ALL of these
questions:
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•Can the child sit all the way back
against the vehicle seat back with
knees bent comfortably at the
edge of the seat without
slouching?
• Does the lap belt rest low across the hips?
• Is the shoulder belt centered on the shoulder and chest?
• Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?
Types of booster seats
There are two types of belt-positioning booster seats:
• Those that are backless.
If your backless booster seat has a
removable shield, remove the
shield and use the lap/shoulder
belt. If a seating position has a
low seat back and no head
restraint, a backless booster seat
may place your child’s head (top
of ear level) above the top of the
seat. In this case, move the
backless booster to another
seating position with a higher seat back and lap/shoulder belts.
• Those with a high back.
If, with a backless booster seat,
you cannot find a seating position
that adequately supports your
child’s head, a high back booster
seat would be a better choice.
Either type can be used at any seating position equipped with
lap/shoulder belts if your child is over 40 lb. (18 kg).
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Children and booster seats vary widely in size and shape. Choose a
booster that keeps the lap belt low and snug across the hips, never up
across the stomach, and lets you adjust the shoulder belt to cross the
chest and rest snugly near the center of the shoulder. The drawings
below compare the ideal fit (center) to a shoulder belt uncomfortably
close to the neck and a shoulder belt that could slip off the shoulder.
If the booster seat slides on the vehicle seat, placing a rubberized mesh
sold as shelf or carpet liner under the booster seat may improve this
condition.
The importance of shoulder belts
Using a booster without a shoulder belt increases the risk of a child’s
head hitting a hard surface in a collision. For this reason, you should
never use a booster seat with a lap belt only. It is best to use a booster
seat with lap/shoulder belts in the back seat- the safest place for children
to ride.WARNING: Move a child to a different seating location if the
shoulder belt does not stay positioned on the shoulder during
use.
WARNING: Follow all instructions provided by the
manufacturer of the booster seat.
WARNING: Never put the shoulder belt under a child’s arm or
behind the back because it eliminates the protection for the
upper part of the body and may increase the risk of injury or
death in a collision.
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WARNING: Never use pillows, books, or towels to boost a
child. They can slide around and increase the likelihood of
injury or death in a collision.
SAFETY SEATS FOR CHILDREN
Child and infant or child safety seats
Use a safety seat that is recommended for the size and weight of the
child. Carefully follow all of the manufacturer’s instructions with the
safety seat you put in your vehicle. If you do not install and use the
safety seat properly, the child may be injured in a sudden stop or
collision.
When installing a child safety seat:
• Review and follow the information
presented in the airbag
supplemental restraint system
(SRS) section in this chapter.
• Use the correct seat belt buckle
for that seating position (the
buckle closest to the direction the
tongue is coming from).
• Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle until you hear a
snap and feel it latch. Make sure the tongue is securely fastened in the
buckle.
• Keep the buckle release button pointing up and away from the safety
seat, with the tongue between the child seat and the release button,
to prevent accidental unbuckling.
• Place seat back in upright position.
• Put the seat belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer to Automatic
locking mode (passenger side front and outboard rear seating
positions) (if equipped) section in this chapter.
• LATCH lower anchors are recommended for use by children up to
48 lb. (22 kg) in a child restraint. Top tether anchors can be used for
children up to 60 lb. (27 kg) in a child restraint, and to provide upper
torso restraint for children up to 80 lb. (36 kg) using an upper torso
harness and a belt-positioning booster.
Mazda recommends the use of a child safety seat having a top tether
strap. Install the child safety seat in a seating position with LATCH and
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tether anchors. For more information on top tether straps and anchors,
refer toAttaching safety seats with tether straps in this chapter. For
more information of LATCH anchors refer to Attaching safety seats with
LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) attachments in this
chapter.
WARNING: Carefully follow all of the manufacturer’s
instructions included with the safety seat you put in your
vehicle. If you do not install and use the safety seat properly,
the child may be injured in a sudden stop or collision.
WARNING: Rear-facing child seats or infant carriers should
never be placed in front of an active passenger airbag.
Installing child safety seats with combination lap and shoulder
belts
The rear seat head restraints must be removed when using a child
seat. WARNING: Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
NEVER place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active air
bag. If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front
seat, move the seat all the way back.
1. Position the child safety seat in a seat with a combination lap
and shoulder belt.
WARNING: Children 12 and under should be properly
restrained in the rear seat whenever possible.
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2. Pull down on the shoulder beltand then grasp the shoulder
belt and lap belt together.
3. While holding the shoulder and lap belt portions together, route
the tongue through the child
seat according to the child seat
manufacturer’s instructions. Be
sure the belt webbing is not
twisted.
4. Insert the belt tongue into the proper buckle (the buckle
closest to the direction the
tongue is coming from) for that
seating position until you hear a
snap and feel the latch engage.
Make sure the tongue is latched
securely by pulling on it.
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5. To put the retractor in theautomatic locking mode, grasp
the shoulder portion of the belt
and pull downward until all of
the belt is extracted and a click
is heard.
6. Allow the belt to retract. The belt will click as it retracts to indicate it is in the automatic locking mode.
7. Pull the lap belt portion across the child seat toward the buckle
and pull up on the shoulder belt
while pushing down with your
knee on the child seat.
8. Allow the seat belt to retract to remove any slack in the belt.
9. Before placing the child in the seat, forcibly tilt the seat
forward and back to make sure
the seat is securely held in
place. To check this, grab the
seat at the belt path and
attempt to move it side to side
and forward and back. There
should be no more than one
inch of movement for proper installation.
10. Try to pull the belt out of the retractor to make sure the retractor is in the automatic locking mode (you should not be able to pull more
belt out). If the retractor is not locked, unbuckle the belt and repeat
Steps 2 through 9.
Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use.
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4. Clip the tether strap to theanchor as shown.
The arrow in the above graphic
points toward the front of the
vehicle.
WARNING: If the tether strap
is clipped incorrectly, the child
safety seat may not be
retained properly in the event
of a collision.5. Install the child safety seat tightly using the LATCH anchors or seat belts. Follow the
instructions in this chapter.
6. Tighten the child safety seat tether strap according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
WARNING: If the safety seat is not anchored properly, the risk
of a child being injured in a collision greatly increases.
Attaching safety seats with LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for
Children) attachments for child seat anchors
Some child safety seats have two rigid or webbing mounted attachments
that connect to two anchors at certain seating positions in your vehicle.
This type of child seat eliminates the need to use seat belts to attach the
child seat. For forward-facing child seats, the tether strap must also be
attached to the proper tether anchor. See Attaching safety seats with
tether straps in this chapter.
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Your vehicle has LATCH anchors for child seat installation at the
following locations:
The anchors on both sides of the
center of the rear seat are provided
primarily for child seats at the
outboard seats, and are further
apart than the pairs of lower
anchors for child seat installation at
other seats. A child seat with rigid
LATCH attachments cannot be
installed at the center rear seat. A
child seat with LATCH attachments on belt webbing can be used at the
center rear seat unless a child seat at an outboard rear seat is attached
to one of these lower anchors. Install a child seat onto the lower anchors
at the center rear seat ONLY IF the child restraint manufacturer
recommends that the child seat can be installed to anchors that are
spaced up to 20 in (500 mm) apart.WARNING: Never attach two LATCH child safety seats to the
same anchor. In a crash, one anchor may not be strong enough
to hold two child safety seat attachments and may break,
causing serious injury or death.
The lower anchors for child seat
installation are located at the rear
section of the second row seat
between the cushion and seat back.
Follow the child seat manufacturer’s instructions to properly install a
child seat with LATCH attachments. WARNING: Attach LATCH lower attachments of the child seat
only to the anchors shown.
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