Essential Safety Equipment; Seat Belt Systems- Page 30

2–16

Essential Safety Equipment

Seat Belt Systems

*Some models.

 Pregnant Women and Persons with Serious Medical Conditions

Pregnant women should always wear seat belts. Ask your doctor for specific 

recommendations.

The lap belt should be worn SNUGLY AND AS LOW AS POSSIBLE OVER THE HIPS.

The shoulder belt should be worn across your shoulder properly, but never across the 

stomach area.

Persons with serious medical conditions also should wear seat belts. Check with your doctor 

for any special instructions regarding specific medical conditions.

 Emergency Locking Mode

When the seat belt is fastened, it will always be in the emergency locking mode.

In the emergency locking mode, the belt remains comfortable on the occupant and the 

retractor will lock in position during a collision.

If the belt is locked and cannot be pulled out, retract the belt once, and then try pulling it out 

slowly. If this fails, pull the belt strongly one time and loosen, then pull it out again slowly.

(Seat Belt with Automatic Locking Mode)

When the seat belt is fastened, it will always be in the emergency locking mode until it is 

switched to automatic locking mode by pulling it all the way out to its full length. If the belt 

feels tight and hinders comfortable movement while the vehicle is stopped or in motion, it 

may be in the automatic locking mode because the belt has been pulled too far out. To return 

the belt to the more comfortable emergency locking mode, wait until the vehicle has stopped 

in a safe, level area, retract the belt fully to convert it back to emergency locking mode and 

then extend it around you again.

 Automatic Locking Mode

*

Always use the automatic locking mode to keep the child-restraint system from shifting to 

an unsafe position in the event of an accident. To enable seat belt automatic locking mode, 

pull it all the way out and connect it as instructed on the child-restraint system. It will retract 

down to the child-restraint system and stay locked on it. See the section on child restraint 

(page 2-22).

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