2008 Suzuki Forenza Owner's Manual - Page 43

SEATS AND RESTRAINT SYSTEMS Passenger Sensing System Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system for the right front passenger position. The passenger air bag off indicator will be visible when you turn your ignition key to ON or START. The words "PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF" will be visible in the clock display located in the center of the instrument panel during the system check. When the system check is complete, the words "PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF" should go out unless the passenger sensing system has turned off the front passenger's frontal and side air bags. See "Passenger Air bag Off Indicator" in Section 3. WARNING A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be severely injured or killed if the right front passenger's frontal air bag inflates. This is because the back of the rear-facing child restraint would be very close to the inflating air bag. Even though the passenger sensing system is designed to turn off the passenger's frontal air bag and side air bag under certain conditions, no system is fail-safe, and no one can guarantee that an air bag will not deploy under some unusual circumstance, even though it is turned off. Always secure a rear-facing child restraint in the rear seat, even if the air bags are off. The passenger sensing system is designed to turn off the right front passenger's frontal air bag and side air bag when the weight on the front seat is 25.6 kg (56.4 lbs) or less. The air bag should be turned off in the following situations. • the right front passenger seat is unoccupied. • the system determines that an infant or a small child is present in the right front passenger seat. • a right front passenger takes his/her weight off of the seat for a period of time. • there is a critical problem with the air bag system or the passenger sensing system. When the passenger sensing system has turned off the passenger's frontal air bag and side air bag, the passenger air bag off indicator in the clock display will light and stay lit to remind you that the air bags are off. See "Passenger Air Bag Off Indicator" in Section 3. Accident statistics show that children are safer if they are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat. We recommend that child restraints be secured in the rear seat. For some children who have outgrown child restraints and for very small adults, the passenger sensing system may or may not turn off the right front passenger's frontal air bag and side air bag, depending upon the person's seating posture and body build. Everyone in your vehicle who has outgrown child restraints should wear a safety belt properly - whether or not there is an air bag for that person. If a person of adult-size is sitting in the right front passenger's seat, but the passenger air bag off indicator is lit, it could be because that person is not sitting properly in the seat. If this happens, do one of the following: • Turn the vehicle off and ask the person to place the seatback in the fully upright PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF N5U1002AS The passenger sensing system will turn off the right front passenger's frontal air bag and side air bag under certain conditions. The driver's frontal air bag and side air bag are not part of the passenger sensing system. The passenger sensing system works with sensors that are part of the right front passenger's seat cushion. The sensors are designed to detect the presence of a properly-seated occupant and determine if the passenger's frontal air bag and side air bag should be enabled (may inflate) or not. 1-31