Child safety
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured .
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle has
been certified to meet the "low-risk" require-
ments for 3- and 6-year old children on the pas-
senger side and small adults on the driver side.
The low risk deployment criteria are intended to
reduce the risk of injury through interaction with
the airbag that can occur, for example, by being
too close to the steering wheel and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates. In addition, the
system has been certified to comply with the
"suppression " requirements of the Safety Stand-
ard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up to
12 months who are restrained on the front pas-
senger seat in child restraints that are listed in
the Standard .
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Ad-
vanced Airbag system, all children , especially
those 12 years and younger, should always ride
in the back seat properly restrained for their age
and size. The airbag on the passenger side makes
the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a
child to ride. The front seat is not the safest place
for a child in a forward -facing child safety seat .
It
can be a very dangerous place for an infant or a
larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
The vehicle's Advanced Airbag System has a ca-
pacitive passenger detection system in the front
passenger seat cushion that can detect the pres-
ence of a baby or a child in a child restraint sys-
tem on this seat.
The capacitive passenger detection system regis -
ters the changes that result in an electrical field
when a child, a child restraint, and a baby blanket
are on the front passenger seat. The change in
the measured capacitance due to the presence of
a child, a child restraint, and a baby blanket on
the front passenger seat is related to the child
restraint system resting on the seat. The meas-
ured capacitance of a child restraint system var-
ies depending on the type of system and specific
make and model.
The electrical capacitance of the various types ,
makes, and models of child restraints specified
by the U.S.National Highway Traffic Safety Ad-
216
ministration (NHTSA) in the relevant safety
standard are stored in the Advanced Airbag Sys-
tem control unit together with the capacitances
typical of infants and a 1-year old child. When a
child restraint is used on the front passenger
seat with a typical 1 year -old infant, the Ad-
vanced Airbag System compares the capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger detection
system with the data stored in the electronic con-
trol unit .
Child restraints and Advanced front airbag
system
Regardless of the child restraint that you use,
make sure that it has been certified to meet Unit-
ed States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
and has been certified by its manufacturer for
use with an airbag . Always be sure that the child
restraint is properly i nsta lied at one of the rear
seating positions .
If in exceptional circumstances
you must use it on the front passenger seat, care-
fully read all of the information on child safety
and Advanced Airbags and heed all of the appli-
cable WARNINGS. Make certain that the child
and child restraint are correctly recognized by the
capacitive passenger detection system in the
front passenger seat, that the front passenger
airbag is turned off, and that the airbag status is
always correctly signaled by the PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light.
Many types and models of child restraints have
been available over the years, new models are in-
troduced regularly incorporating new and im-
proved designs and older models are taken out of
production. Child restraints are not standardized.
Child restraints of the same type typically have
different weights and sizes and different "foot-
prints", the size and shape of the bottom of the
child restraint that sits on th e seat, when they
are installed on a vehicle seat. These differences
make it virtually impossible to certify compliance
with the requirements for advanced airbags with
each and every child restraint that has ever been
sold in the past or will be sold over the course of
the useful life of your vehicle.
For this reason, the United States National High -
way Traffic Safety Administration has published a .,.
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