Essential Safety Equipment- Page 34

2–22

Essential Safety Equipment

Child-Restraint

     Child-Restraint  Precautions

            Mazda strongly urges the use of child-restraint systems for children small enough to use 
them.

  You are required by law to use a child-restraint system for children in the U.S. and Canada.
  Check your local and state or provincial laws for specifi c requirements regarding the safety 
of children riding in your vehicle.

  Whatever child-restraint system you consider, please pick the appropriate one for the age 
and size of the child, obey the law and follow the instructions that come with the individual 
child-restraint system.

  A child who has outgrown child-restraint systems should sit in the rear and use seat belts, 
both lap and shoulder. If the shoulder belt crosses the neck or face, move the child closer 
to the center of the vehicle in the outboard seats, and towards the buckle on the right if the 
child is seated on the center seat.

  Statistics  confi rm that the rear seat is the best place for all children up to 12 years of age, 
and more so with a supplemental restraint system (air bags).

  A rear-facing child-restraint system should  

NEVER

  be used on the front seat with the air 

bag system activated. The front passenger's seat is also the least preferred seat for other 
child-restraint systems.

(With Front Passenger Occupant Classifi cation System)

  To reduce the chance of injuries caused by deployment of the front passenger air bag, the 
front passenger seat weight sensors work as a part of the supplemental restraint system. This 
system deactivates the front passenger front and side air bags and also the front passenger 
seat belt pretensioner system when the front passenger air bag deactivation indicator light 
illuminates.

  When an infant or small child sits on the front passenger seat, the system shuts off the front 
passenger front and side air bags and seat belt pretensioner system, so make sure the front 
passenger air bag deactivation indicator light illuminates.

  Even if the front passenger air bag is shut off, Mazda strongly recommends that children be 
properly restrained and child-restraint systems of all kinds are properly secured on the rear 
seats which are the best place for children.

  For more details, refer to "Front passenger seat weight sensors" (page  2-56 ).