Suzuki XL7 - Manual (Page 30)

1-18
SEATS AND RESTRAINT SYSTEMS
78J00-03E
Safety Belt Pretensioners
Your vehicle has safety belt pretensioners
for the driver and right front passenger.
Although you cannot see them, they are
part of the safety belt assembly. They help
tighten the safety belts during the early
stages of a moderate to severe frontal,
near frontal, rear or side crash, or a roll-
over if the threshold conditions for preten-
sioner activation are met.
Pretensioners work only once. If they acti-
vate in a crash, you will need to get new
ones, and probably other new parts for
your safety belt system. Refer to “Replac-
ing Restraint System Parts After a Crash”
in this section.
Safety Belt Extender
If the vehicle’s safety belt will fasten around
you, you should use it.
But if a safety belt is not long enough, your
dealer will order you an extender. When
you go in to order it, take the heaviest coat
you will wear, so the extender will be long
enough for you. To help avoid personal
injury, do not let someone else use it, and
use it only for the seat it is made to fit. The
extender has been designed for adults.
Never use it for securing child seats. To
wear it, just attach it to the regular safety
belt. For more information see the instruc-
tion sheet that comes with the extender.
Child Restraints
Older Children
1379300
Older children who have outgrown booster
seats should wear the vehicle’s safety
belts.
Question:
What is the proper way to wear safety
belts?
Answer:
An older child should wear a lap-shoulder
belt and get the additional restraint a
shoulder belt can provide. The shoulder
belt should not cross the face or neck. The
lap belt should fit snugly below the hips,
just touching the top of the thighs. It should
never be worn over the abdomen, which
could cause severe or even fatal internal
injuries in a crash.
According to accident statistics, children
are safer when properly restrained in the
rear seating positions than in the front
seating positions.
In a crash, children who are not buckled up
can strike other people who are buckled
up, or can be thrown out of the vehicle.
Older children need to use safety belts
properly.
WARNING
Never do this.
Here two children are wearing the
same belt. The belt cannot properly
spread the impact forces. In a crash,
the two children can be crushed
together and seriously injured. A belt
must be used by only one person at a
time.