2006 Mazda MAZDA6 Owner's Manual - Page 35

Mazda6_8U66-EA-05F_Edition2 Page35 Tuesday, July 26 2005 11:23 AM Black plate (35,1) Essential Safety Equipment Seat Belt Systems Front Seat Belt Pretensioner and Load Limiting Systems For optimum protection, the driver and front passenger seat belts are equipped with pretensioner and load limiting systems. In moderate or greater frontal or nearfrontal accidents, the front air bag and pretensioner systems deploy simultaneously. The pretensioners take up slack in the front seat belts as the air bags are expanding. The seat belt pretensioner system cannot provide adequate protection in an accident if the seat belt is not fastened properly. The load limiting system releases belt webbing in a controlled manner to reduce belt force on the occupant's chest. WARNING Expended Seat Belt Pretensioners: One or both front air bags may deploy, and the corresponding pretensioner(s) will also deploy at the same time. Use of front seat belts with the pretensioner system expended is dangerous. Like the air bags, the seat belt pretensioners will only function once. After they are expended, they will not function again and must be replaced immediately. If the seat belt pretensioners are not replaced, the risk of injury in a collision will increase. Always have an Authorized Mazda Dealer inspect the seat belt pretensioners and air bags after any collision. Expended seat belt pretensioners and air bags must be replaced after any collision which caused them to deploy. Additionally, the load limiter will only limit loads on the chest once in a collision and is another reason to have the front seat belts inspected. Modification or Testing of the Pretensioner System: Modifying the components or wiring of the pretensioner system, including the use of electronic testing devices is dangerous. You could accidentally activate it or make it inoperable which would prevent it from activating in an accident. The occupants or repairers could be seriously injured. Never modify the components or wiring, or use electronic testing devices on the pretensioner system. WARNING Incorrect Positioning of the Driver and Front Passenger Seat Belts: Incorrect positioning of the driver and passenger seat belts is dangerous. Without proper positioning, the pretensioner and load limiting systems cannot provide adequate protection in an accident and this could result in serious injury. Wear seat belts only as recommended in this owner's manual (page 2-19). 2-21 Form No.8U66-EA-05F