2004 Mazda MPV Owner's Manual - Page 50

Essential Safety Equipment Child Restraint Child Restraint Precautions Mazda strongly urges the use of child-restraint systems for children small enough to use them. You are required by law to use a child-restraint system for children in the U.S. and Canada. Check your local and state or provincial laws for specific requirements regarding the safety of children riding in your vehicle. Whatever child-restraint system you consider, please pick the appropriate one for the age and size of the child, obey the law and follow the instructions that come with the individual child-restraint system. A child who has outgrown child-restraint systems should sit in the rear and use seat belts, both lap and shoulder. If the shoulder belt crosses the neck or face, move the child closer to the center of the vehicle. Statistics confirm that the rear seats are the best place for all children up to 12 years of age, and more so with a supplemental restraint system (air bags). A rear-facing child-restraint system should NEVER be used on the front seat with the air bag system activated. The front passenger's seat is also the least preferred seat for other child-restraint systems. To reduce the chance of injuries caused by deployment of the front passenger air bag, your vehicle is equipped with the front passenger seat weight sensors as a part of the supplemental restraint system. This system deactivates the front passenger front and side air bags and also the front passenger seat belt pretensioner system when the total seated weight on the front passenger seat is less than approximately 30 kg (66 lb). When an infant or small child sits on the front passenger seat, the system shuts off the front passenger front and side air bags and seat belt pretensioner system, so make sure the front passenger air bag deactivation indicator light illuminates. Even if the front passenger air bag is shut off, Mazda strongly recommends that children be properly restrained and child-restraint systems of all kinds are properly secured on the rear seats which are the best place for children. For more details, refer to "Front passenger seat weight sensors (page 2-63)". 2-41