Owner's Manual

The vast majority of drivers and passengers
are much safer with an airbag than
without. To do their job and reduce the risk
of life threatening injuries, airbags must
open with great force, and this force can
pose a potentially deadly risk in some
situations, particularly when a front seat
occupant is not properly buckled up. The
most effective way to reduce the risk of
unnecessary airbag injuries without
reducing the overall safety of the vehicle
is to make sure all occupants are properly
restrained in the vehicle, especially in the
front seat. This provides the protection of
safety belts and permits the airbags to
provide the additional protection they were
designed to provide. If you choose to
deactivate your airbag, you are losing the
very significant risk reducing benefits of
the airbag and you are also reducing the
effectiveness of the safety belts, because
safety belts in modern vehicles are
designed to work as a safety system with
the airbags.
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration Deactivation Criteria
(Excluding Canada)
WARNING
This vehicle has special energy
management safety belts for the
driver and right front passenger.
These particular belts are specifically
designed to work with airbags to help
reduce the risk of injury in a crash. The
energy management safety belt is
designed to give or release additional belt
webbing in some accidents to reduce
concentration of force on an occupant's
chest and reduce the risk of certain bone
fractures and injuries to underlying organs.
In a crash, if the airbag is turned off, this
energy management safety belt might
permit the person wearing the belt to move
forward enough to incur a serious or fatal
injury. The more severe the crash, and the
heavier the occupant, the greater the risk
is. Be sure the airbag is turned on for any
person who does not qualify under the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration deactivation criteria.
1. Infant. An infant (less than 1 year old)
must ride in the front seat because:
• The vehicle has no rear seat.
• The vehicle has a rear seat too small
to accommodate a rear-facing infant
seat.
• The infant has a medical condition
which, according to the infant's
physician, makes it necessary for the
infant to ride in the front so that the
driver can constantly monitor the
child's condition.
2. Child age 1 to 12. A child age 1 to 12 must
ride in the front seat because:
30
E-Series (TE4), enUSA, First Printing
Supplementary Restraints System