Honda Fit: Protecting Adults and Teens

Introduction

The following pages provide instructions on how to properly protect the driver, adult passengers, and teenage children who are large enough and mature enough to drive or ride in the front.

1. Close and Lock the Doors

After everyone has entered the vehicle, be sure the doors and the tailgate are closed and locked.

Your vehicle has a door and tailgate open indicator on the instrument panel to indicate when any door or the tailgate is not tightly closed.

Locking the doors reduces the chance of someone being thrown out of the vehicle during a crash, and it helps prevent passengers from accidentally opening a door and falling out.

Locking the doors and the tailgate also helps prevent an outsider from unexpectedly opening a door or the tailgate when you come to a stop.

2. Adjust the Front Seats

Adjust the driver’s seat as far to the rear as possible while allowing you to maintain full control of the vehicle.

Have a front passenger adjust their seat as far to the rear as possible.

If you sit too close to the steering wheel or dashboard, you can be seriously injured by an inflating front airbag, or by striking the steering wheel or dashboard.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Transport Canada recommend that drivers allow at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the center of the steering wheel and the chest. In addition to adjusting the seat, you can adjust the steering wheel up and down.

If you cannot get far enough away from the steering wheel and still reach the controls, we recommend that you investigate whether some type of adaptive equipment may help.

Sitting too close to a front airbag can result in serious injury or death if the front airbags inflate.

Always sit as far back from the front airbags as possible.

Once a seat is adjusted correctly, rock it back and forth to make sure it is locked in position.

3. Adjust the Seat-Backs

Adjust the driver’s seat-back to a comfortable, upright position, leaving ample space between your chest and the airbag cover in the center of the steering wheel.

Passengers with adjustable seatbacks should also adjust their seatback to a comfortable, upright position.

Reclining the seat-back too far can result in serious injury or death in a crash.

Adjust the seat-back to an upright position, and sit well back in the seat.

Reclining a seat-back so that the shoulder part of the belt no longer rests against the occupant’s chest reduces the protective capability of the belt. It also increases the chance of sliding under the belt in a crash and being seriously injured. The farther a seat-back is reclined, the greater the risk of injury.

4. Adjust the Head Restraints

Adjust the driver’s head restraint so the center of the back of your head rests against the center of the restraint.

Have passengers adjust their head restraints properly as well. Taller persons should adjust their restraint as high as possible.

When a passenger is seated in the rear center seating position, make sure the center head restraint is properly positioned.

Improperly positioning head restraints reduces their effectiveness and you can be seriously injured in a crash.

Make sure head restraints are in place and positioned properly before driving.

Properly adjusted head restraints will help protect occupants from whiplash  and other crash injuries.

5. Fasten and Position the Seat Belts

Insert the latch plate into the buckle, then tug on the belt to make sure the belt is securely latched. Check that the belt is not twisted, because a twisted belt can cause serious injuries in a crash.

The seat belt in the center position of the back seat can be unlatched and retracted to allow the back seat to be folded up or down. This seat belt should be latched whenever the seat-back is in an upright position.

Position the lap part of the belt as low as possible across your hips, then pull up on the shoulder part of the belt so the lap part fits snugly.

This lets your strong pelvic bones take the force of a crash and reduces the chance of internal injuries.

If necessary, pull up on the belt again to remove any slack, then check that the belt rests across the center of your chest and over your shoulder.

This spreads the forces of a crash over the strongest bones in your upper body.

Improperly positioning the seat belts can cause serious injury or death in a crash.

Make sure all seat belts are properly positioned before driving.

If the seat belt touches or crosses your neck, or if it crosses your arm instead of your shoulder, you need to adjust the seat belt anchor height.

The front seats have adjustable seat belt anchors. To adjust the height of an anchor, squeeze the two release buttons, and slide the anchor up or down as needed (it has four positions).

Never place the shoulder portion of a 6.

lap/shoulder belt under your arm or behind your back.

This could cause very serious injuries in a crash.

If a seat belt does not seem to work properly, it may not protect the occupant in a crash.

No one should sit in a seat with an inoperative seat belt.

Using a seat belt that is not working properly can result in serious injury or death.

Have your dealer check the belt as soon as possible.

6. Maintain a Proper Sitting Position

After all occupants have adjusted their seats and head restraints, and put on their seat belts, it is very important that they continue to sit upright, well back in their seats, with their feet on the floor, until the vehicle is parked and the engine is off.

Sitting improperly can increase the chance of injury during a crash. For example, if an occupant slouches, lies down, turns sideways, sits forward, leans forward or sideways, or puts one or both feet up, the chance of injury during a crash is greatly increased.

In addition, an occupant who is out of position in the front seat can be seriously or fatally injured in a crash by striking interior parts of the vehicle or being struck by an inflating front airbag.

Sitting improperly or out of position can result in serious injury or death in a crash.

Always sit upright, well back in the seat, with your feet on the floor.

Advice for Pregnant Women

If you are pregnant, the best way to protect yourself and your unborn child when driving or riding in a vehicle is to always wear a seat belt, and keep the lap part of the belt as low as possible across the hips.

When driving, remember to sit upright and adjust the seat as far back as possible while allowing full control of the vehicle. When riding as a front passenger, adjust the seat as far back as possible.

This will reduce the risk of injuries to both you and your unborn child that can be caused by a crash or an inflating front airbag.

Each time you have a checkup, ask your doctor if it’s okay for you to drive.

Additional Safety Precautions

• Never let passengers ride in the cargo area or on top of a foldeddown back seat.

If they do, they could be very seriously injured in a crash.

• Never let passengers ride in the area in front of a folded-up rear seat or on top of a folded-down rear seat.

If they do, they could be very seriously injured in a crash.

• Passengers should not stand up or change seats while the vehicle is moving.

A passenger who is not wearing a seat belt during a crash or emergency stop can be thrown against the inside of the vehicle, against other occupants, or out of the vehicle.

• Two people should never use the same seat belt.

If they do, they could be very seriously injured in a crash.

• Do not put any accessories on seat belts.

Devices intended to improve occupant comfort or reposition the shoulder part of a seat belt can reduce the protective capability of the belt and increase the chance of serious injury in a crash.

• Do not place hard or sharp objects between yourself and a front airbag.

Carrying hard or sharp objects on your lap, or driving with a pipe or other sharp object in your mouth, can result in injuries if your front airbag inflates.

• Keep your hands and arms away from the airbag covers.

If your hands or arms are close to an airbag cover, they could be injured if the airbag inflates.

• Do not attach or place objects on the front airbag covers.

Objects on the covers marked ‘‘SRS AIRBAG’’ could interfere with the proper operation of the airbags or be propelled inside the vehicle and hurt someone if the airbags inflate.

• Do not attach hard objects on or near a door.

If a side airbag or a side curtain airbag inflates, a cup holder or other hard object attached on or near the door could be propelled inside the vehicle and hurt someone.