2008 Honda Element Owner's Manual - Page 17

Main Menu Table Of Contents 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. 53 for important See pages 37 guidelines on how to properly protect infants, small children, and larger children who ride in your vehicle. 1.Close and Lock the Doors After everyone has entered the vehicle, be sure the doors are closed and locked. Your vehicle has a door and tailgate open monitor on the instrument panel to indicate when a specific door or the tailgate or the hatch 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 also helps prevent an outsider from unexpectedly opening a door when you come to a stop. See page 80 for how to lock the doors, and page 63 for how the door and tailgate monitor system works. 2.Adjust the Front Seats Driver and Passenger Safety 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. CONTINUED 13 2008 Element