The passenger side airbag should always
be on (the airbag off light should not be
illuminated) unless the passenger is a
person who meets the requirements stated
either in Category 1, 2 or 3 of the National
Highway Traffic Safety
Administration/Transport Canada
deactivation criteria which follows.
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
seatbelts 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 seatbelts, because
seatbelts 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 seatbelts 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 seatbelt 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
seatbelt 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) Canada/United States of America, enUSA, Edition date: 03/2015, Second Printing
Supplementary Restraints System
