Seat Belt Systems
Seat Belt Precautions
Seat belts help to decrease the possibility of severe injury during accidents and sudden stops. Mazda recommends that the driver and all passengers always wear seat belts.
All of the seat belt retractors are designed to keep the lap/shoulder belts out of the way when not in use.
The driver's seat belt has no provisions for child-restraint systems and has only an emergency locking mode. The driver may wear it comfortably, and it will lock during a collision.
However, the front passenger's seat and all rear lap/shoulder belt retractors operate in two modes: emergency locking mode, and for child-restraint systems, automatic locking mode. While we recommend you put all children in the rear seats, if you must use the front passenger seat for a child, slide the front passenger seat as far back as possible and make sure any child-restraint system is secured properly.
Always wear your seat belt and make sure all occupants are properly restrained:
Not wearing a seat belt is extremely dangerous. During a collision, occupants not wearing seat belts could hit someone or things inside the vehicle or even be thrown out of the vehicle. They could be seriously injured or even killed. In the same collision, occupants wearing seat belts would be much safer.
In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a seat belt.
Do not wear twisted seat belts:
Twisted seat belts are dangerous. In a collision, the full width of the belt is not available to absorb the impact. This puts more force on the bones beneath the belt, which could cause serious injury or death. So, if your seat belt is twisted, you must straighten the seat belt to remove any twists and to allow the full width of the belt to be used.
Never use one seat belt on more than one person at a time:
Using one seat belt for more than one person at a time is dangerous. A seat belt used in this way cannot spread the impact forces properly and the two passengers could be crushed together and seriously injured or even killed. Never use one belt for more than one person at a time and always operate the vehicle with each occupant properly restrained.
Do not operate a vehicle with a damaged seat belt:
Using a damaged seat belt is dangerous. An accident could damage the belt webbing of the seat belt in use. A damaged seat belt cannot provide adequate protection in a collision. Have an Authorized Mazda Dealer inspect all seat belt systems in use during an accident before they are used again.
Have your seat belts changed immediately if the pretensioner or load limiter has been expended:
Always have an Authorized Mazda Dealer immediately inspect the seat belt pretensioners and air bags after any collision. Like the air bags, the seat belt pretensioners and load limiters will only function once and must be replaced after any collision that caused them to deploy. A seat belt with an expended pretensioner or load limiter is still better than wearing no seat belt at all; however, if the seat belt pretensioners and load limiters are not replaced, the risk of injury in a collision will increase.
Positioning the Shoulder Portion of the Seat Belt:
Improper positioning of the shoulder portion of the seat belt is dangerous. Always make sure the shoulder portion of the seat belt is positioned across your shoulder and near your neck, but never under your arm, on your neck, or on your upper arm.
Do not use a front seat belt while seated in a rear seat:
Using a front seat belt, which is stored in the rear door, is dangerous as the seat belt cannot function at its full capacity during sudden braking or in a collision, which could result in serious, injury or death. In addition, using the seat belt in this manner could damage the rear seat belt buckle.
Positioning the Lap Portion of the Seat Belt:
The lap portion of the seat belt worn too high is dangerous. In a collision, this would concentrate the impact force directly on the abdominal area, causing serious injury. Wear the lap portion of the belt snugly and as low as possible.
Belt retraction may become difficult if the belts and rings are soiled, so try to keep them clean. For more details about cleaning the seat belts, refer to "Seat Belt Maintenance" (Search).
-
Ring
Pregnant Women and Persons with Serious Medical Conditions
Pregnant women should always wear seat belts. Ask your doctor for specific recommendations.
The lap belt should be worn SNUGLY AND AS LOW AS POSSIBLE OVER THE HIPS.
The shoulder belt should be worn across your shoulder properly, but never across the stomach area.
Persons with serious medical conditions also should wear seat belts. Check with your doctor for any special instructions regarding specific medical conditions.
Seat Belt
Unfastening the Seat Belt
Depress the button on the seat belt buckle. If the belt does not fully retract, pull it out and check for kinks or twists. Then make sure it remains untwisted as it retracts.
-
Button
If a belt does not fully retract, inspect it for kinks and twists. If it is still not retracting properly, have it inspected at an Authorized Mazda Dealer.
Seat Belt Warning Systems
Seat Belt Pretensioner and Load Limiting Systems
For optimum protection, the front seat belts and rear outboard seat belts are equipped with pretensioner and load limiting systems. For both these systems to work properly you must wear the seat belt properly.
Pretensioners:
When a collision is detected, the pretensioners deploy simultaneously with the air bags.
The pretensioners deploy simultaneously with the air bags when a roll-over is also detected.
For deployment details, refer to the SRS Air Bag Deployment Criteria (Search).
The seat belt retractors remove slack quickly as the air bags are expanding. Any time the air bags and seat belt pretensioners have fired they must be replaced.
A system malfunction or operation conditions are indicated by a warning.
Refer to Air Bag/Seat Belt Pretensioner System Warning Indication/Warning Light (Search).
In addition, the pretensioner system for the front passenger, like the front and side passenger air bag, is designed to only deploy in accordance with the total seated weight on the front passenger seat.
For details, refer to the front passenger seat weight sensors (Search).
Load limiter:
The load limiting system releases belt webbing in a controlled manner to reduce belt force on the occupant's chest. While the most severe load on a seat belt occurs in frontal collisions, the load limiter has an automatic mechanical function and can activate in any accident mode with sufficient occupant movement.
Even if the pretensioners have not fired, the load limiting function must be checked by an Authorized Mazda Dealer.
Wear seat belts only as recommended in this owner's manual:
Incorrect positioning of the 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. For more details about wearing seat belts, refer to "Fastening the Seat Belt" (Search).
Have your seat belts changed immediately if the pretensioner or load limiter has been expended:
Always have an Authorized Mazda Dealer immediately inspect the seat belt pretensioners and air bags after any collision. Like the air bags, the seat belt pretensioners and load limiters will only function once and must be replaced after any collision that caused them to deploy. A seat belt with an expended pretensioner or load limiter is still better than wearing no seat belt at all; however, if the seat belt pretensioners and load limiters are not replaced, the risk of injury in a collision will increase.
Do not modify the components or wiring, or use electronic testing devices on 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.
Properly dispose of the pretensioner system:
Improper disposal of the pretensioner system or a vehicle with non-deactivated pretensioners is dangerous. Unless all safety procedures are followed, injury could result. Have an Authorized Mazda Dealer safely dispose of the pretensioner system or scrap a pretensioner system equipped vehicle.
-
The pretensioner system may not operate depending on the type of the collision. For details, refer to the SRS Air Bag Deployment Criteria (Search).
-
Some smoke (non-toxic gas) will be released when the air bags and pretensioners deploy. This does not indicate a fire. This gas normally has no effect on occupants, however, those with sensitive skin may experience light skin irritation. If residue from the deployment of the air bags or the pretensioner system gets on the skin or in the eyes, wash it off as soon as possible.
