child restraint Ram Cargo Van 2015 Owner's Manual

LIFTGATE ............................57
▫ Power Liftgate — If Equipped .............58
 OCCUPANT RESTRAINT SYSTEMS ..........61
▫ Important Safety Precautions ..............61
▫ Seat Belt Systems ......................62
▫ Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) ........78
▫ Child Restraints .......................94
▫ Transporting Pets .....................104 
ENGINE BREAK-IN RECOMMENDATIONS . . .105
 SAFETY TIPS ........................ .105
▫ Transporting Passengers .................105
▫ Exhaust Gas ........................ .106
▫ Safety Checks You Should Make Inside The
Vehicle ............................ .107
▫ Periodic Safety Checks You Should Make
Outside The Vehicle ...................110
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THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 11

OCCUPANT RESTRAINT SYSTEMS
Some of the most important safety features in your
vehicle are the restraint systems:
•Seat Belt Systems
• Supplemental Restraint Systems (SRS) Air Bags
• Supplemental Active Head Restraints
• Child Restraints
Important Safety Precautions
Please pay close attention to the information in this
section. It tells you how to use your restraint system
properly, to keep you and your passengers as safe as
possible.
Here are some simple steps you can take to minimize the
risk of harm from a deploying air bag: 1. Children 12 years old and under should always ride
buckled up in a vehicle with a rear seat.
2. If a child from 2 to 12 years old (not in a rear-facing child restraint) must ride in the front passenger seat,
move the seat as far back as possible and use the
proper child restraint. (Refer to “Child Restraints”)
3. Children that are not big enough to wear the vehicle seat belt properly (Refer to Child Restraints) should
be secured in a vehicle with a rear seat in child
restraints or belt-positioning booster seats. Older chil-
dren who do not use child restraints or belt-
positioning booster seats should ride properly buckled
up in a vehicle with a rear seat.
4. Never allow children to slide the shoulder belt behind them or under their arm.
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THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 61

5. You should read the instructions provided with yourchild restraint to make sure that you are using it
properly.
6. All occupants should always wear their lap and shoulder belts properly.
7. The driver and front passenger seats should be moved back as far as practical to allow the Advanced Front
Air Bags room to inflate.
8. Do not lean against the door or window. If your vehicle has side air bags, and deployment occurs, the
side air bags will inflate forcefully into the space
between you and the door and you could be injured.
9. If the air bag system in this vehicle needs to be modified to accommodate a disabled person, contact
the Customer Center. Phone numbers are provided
under If You Need Consumer Assistance.WARNING!
•Never place a rear-facing child restraint in front of
an air bag. A deploying Passenger Advanced Front
Air Bag can cause death or serious injury to a child
12 years or younger, including a child in a rear-
facing child restraint.
• Only use rear-facing child restraint in a vehicle
with a rear seat.
Seat Belt Systems
Buckle up even though you are an excellent driver, even
on short trips. Someone on the road may be a poor driver
and could cause a collision that includes you. This can
happen far away from home or on your own street.
Research has shown that seat belts save lives, and they
can reduce the seriousness of injuries in a collision. Some
of the worst injuries happen when people are thrown
from the vehicle. Seat belts reduce the possibility of
62 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

Seat Belt Extender is not required for a different occu-
pant, it must be removed.
WARNING!
•ONLY use a Seat Belt Extender if it is physically
required in order to properly fit the original seat
belt system. DO NOT USE the Seat Belt Extender
if, when worn, the distance between the front edge
of the Seat Belt Extender buckle and the center of
the occupant’s body is LESS than 6 inches.
• Using a Seat Belt Extender when not needed can
increase the risk of serious injury or death in a
collision. Only use the Seat Belt Extender when the
lap belt is not long enough and only use in the
recommended seating positions. Remove and store
the Seat Belt Extender when not needed.
Seat Belts And Pregnant Women
We recommend that pregnant women use the seat belts
throughout their pregnancy. Keeping the mother safe is
the best way to keep the baby safe.
Pregnant women should wear the lap part of the seat belt
across the thighs and as snug across the hips as possible.
Keep the seat belt low so that it does not come across the
abdomen. That way the strong bones of the hips will take
the force if there is a collision.
Seat Belt Pretensioner
The front seat belt system is equipped with pretensioning
devices that are designed to remove slack from the seat
belt in the event of a collision. These devices may
improve the performance of the seat belt by removing
slack from the seat belt early in a collision. Pretensioners
work for all size occupants, including those in child
restraints.
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NOTE:These devices are not a substitute for proper seat
belt placement by the occupant. The seat belt still must be
worn snugly and positioned properly.
The pretensioners are triggered by the Occupant Re-
straint Controller (ORC). Like the air bags, the preten-
sioners are single use items. A deployed pretensioner or
a deployed air bag must be replaced immediately.
Energy Management Feature
This vehicle has a seat belt system with an Energy
Management feature in the front seating positions that
may help further reduce the risk of injury in the event of
a collision. This seat belt system has a retractor assembly
that is designed to release webbing in a controlled
manner.
Automatic Locking Retractors (ALR) – If Equipped
The seat belt in the passenger seating position is
equipped with a switchable Automatic Locking Retractor
(ALR) which is used to secure a child restraint system.
For additional information, refer to “Installing Child
Restraints Using The Vehicle Seat Belt” under the “Child
Restraints” section of this manual. The table below
defines the type of feature for each seating position.
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THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 71

If the passenger seating position is equipped with an
ALR and is being used for normal usage, only pull the
seat belt webbing out far enough to comfortably wrap
around the occupant’s mid-section so as to not activatethe ALR. If the ALR is activated, you will hear a clicking
sound as the seat belt retracts. Allow the webbing to
retract completely in this case and then carefully pull out
only the amount of webbing necessary to comfortably
wrap around the occupant’s mid-section. Slide the latch
plate into the buckle until you hear a
click.
In Automatic Locking Mode, the shoulder belt is auto-
matically pre-locked. The seat belt will still retract to
remove any slack in the shoulder belt. The Automatic
Locking Mode is available on all passenger seating
positions with a combination lap/shoulder belt. Use the
Automatic Locking Mode anytime a child restraint is
installed in a seating position that has a seat belt with this
feature. Children 12 years old and under should always
be properly restrained in a vehicle with a rear seat.
Front Passenger Seat
• ALR= Switchable Automatic Locking Retractor
•
Top Tether Anchorage Symbol
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WARNING!
•Never place a rear-facing child restraint in front of
an air bag. A deploying Passenger Advanced Front
Air Bag can cause death or serious injury to a child
12 years or younger, including a child in a rear-
facing child restraint.
• Only use rear-facing child restraint in a vehicle
with a rear seat.
How To Engage The Automatic Locking Mode
1. Buckle the combination lap and shoulder belt.
2. Grasp the shoulder portion and pull downward until the entire seat belt is extracted.
3. Allow the seat belt to retract. As the seat belt retracts, you will hear a clicking sound. This indicates the seat
belt is now in the Automatic Locking Mode.
How To Disengage The Automatic Locking Mode
Unbuckle the combination lap/shoulder belt and allow it
to retract completely to disengage the Automatic Locking
Mode and activate the vehicle sensitive (emergency)
locking mode.
WARNING!
•The seat belt assembly must be replaced if the
switchable Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR) fea-
ture or any other seat belt function is not working
properly when checked according to the proce-
dures in the Service Manual.
• Failure to replace the seat belt assembly could
increase the risk of injury in collisions.
(Continued)
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THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE 73

WARNING!(Continued)
•Do not use the Automatic Locking Mode to restrain
occupants who are wearing the seat belt or children
who are using booster seats. The locked mode is
only used to install rear-facing or forward-facing
child restraints that have a harness for restraining
the child.
Supplemental Active Head Restraints (AHR)
These head restraints are passive, deployable compo-
nents, and vehicles with this equipment cannot be readily
identified by any markings, only through visual inspec-
tion of the head restraint. The head restraint will be split
in two halves, with the front half being soft foam and
trim, the back half being decorative plastic. How The Active Head Restraints (AHR) Work
The Occupant Restraint Controller (ORC) determines
whether the severity, or type of rear impact will require
the Active Head Restraints (AHR) to deploy. If a rear
impact requires deployment, both the driver and front
passenger seat AHRs will be deployed.
When AHRs deploy during a rear impact, the front half
of the head restraint extends forward to minimize the gap
between the back of the occupant’s head and the AHR.
This system is designed to help prevent or reduce the
extent of injuries to the driver and front passenger in
certain types of rear impacts.
NOTE:
The Active Head Restraints (AHR) may or may
not deploy in the event of a front or side impact.
However, if during a front impact, a secondary rear
impact occurs, the AHR may deploy based on the sever-
ity and type of the impact.
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WARNING!
•Being too close to the steering wheel or instrument
panel during Advanced Front Air Bag deployment
could cause serious injury, including death. Air
bags need room to inflate. Sit back, comfortably
extending your arms to reach the steering wheel or
instrument panel.
• Never place a rear-facing child restraint in front of
an air bag. A deploying Passenger Advanced Front
Air Bag can cause death or serious injury to a child
12 years or younger, including a child in a rear-
facing child restraint.
• Only use a rear-facing child restraint in a vehicle
with a rear seat.
Advanced Front Air Bag Features
The Advanced Front Air Bag system has multistage
driver and front passenger air bags. This system provides
output appropriate to the severity and type of collision as
determined by the Occupant Restraint Controller (ORC),
which may receive information from the front impact
sensors or other system components.
The first stage inflator is triggered immediately during an
impact that requires air bag deployment. A low energy
output is used in less severe collisions. A higher energy
output is used for more severe collisions.
This vehicle may be equipped with driver and/or front
passenger seat track position sensors that may adjust the
inflation rate of the Advanced Front Air Bags based upon
seat position.
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The SABICs and SABs (“Side Air Bags”) are designed to
activate in certain side impacts and certain rollover
events. The Occupant Restraint Controller (“ORC”) de-
termines whether the deployment of the Side Air Bags in
a particular side impact or rollover event is appropriate,
based on the severity and type of collision. Vehicle
damage by itself is not a good indicator of whether or not
Side Air Bags should have deployed.
Side Air Bags are a supplement to the seat belt restraint
system. Side Air Bags deploy in less time than it takes to
blink your eyes. Occupants, including children, who are
up against or very close to Side Air Bags can be seriously
injured or killed. Occupants, including children, should
never lean on or sleep against the door, side windows, or
area where the Side Air Bags inflate, even if they are in an
infant or child restraint.Seat belts (and child restraints where appropriate) are
necessary for your protection in all collisions. They also
help keep you in position, away from inflating Side Air
Bags. To get the best protection from the Side Air Bags,
occupants must wear their seat belts properly and sit
upright with their backs against the seats. Children must
be properly restrained in a child restraint or booster seat
that is appropriate for the size of the child.
WARNING!
•
Side Air Bags need room to inflate. Do not lean
against the door or window. Sit upright in the
center of the seat.
• Being too close to the Side Air Bags during deploy-
ment could cause you to be severely injured or
killed.
(Continued)
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