Occupant Restraints :: Things to know before starting your vehicle :: Fiat 500 Owners Manual :: Fiat 500

Occupant Restraints

Some of the most important safety features in your vehicle are the restraint systems:

• Three-point lap and shoulder belts for all seating positions
• Advanced Front Air Bags for driver and front passenger
• Supplemental Driver Side Knee Air Bag
• Supplemental Side Air Bag Inflatable Curtains
(SABIC) for the driver and passengers seated next to a window
• Supplemental Seat-Mounted Side Air Bags (SAB)
• Knee bolsters/blockers for front seat occupants
• Front seat belts incorporate pretensioners that may enhance occupant protection by managing occupant energy during an impact event
• All seat belt systems (except the driver’s) include Automatic Locking Retractors (ALRs), which lock the seat belt webbing into position by extending the belt all the way out and then adjusting the belt to the desired length to restrain a child seat or secure a large item in a seat — if equipped

Please pay close attention to the information in this section. It tells you how to use your restraint system properly, to keep you and your passengers as safe as possible.

If you will be carrying children too small for adult-sized seat belts, the seat belts or the Lower Anchors and Tether for CHildren (LATCH) feature also can be used to hold infant and child restraint systems. For more information on LATCH, refer to “LATCH — Child Seat Anchorage System (Lower Anchors and Tether for CHildren).” Here are some simple steps you can take to minimize the risk of harm from a deploying air bag:

1. Children 12 years old and under should always ride buckled up in a rear seat.

WARNING!

Infants in rear facing child restraints should never ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger Advanced Front Air Bag. An air bag deployment can cause severe injury or death to infants in that position.

Children that are not big enough to wear the vehicle seat belt properly (see section on Child Restraints) should be secured in the rear seat in child restraints or beltpositioning booster seats. Older children who do not use child restraints or belt-positioning booster seats should 26 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE ride properly buckled up in the rear seat. Never allow children to slide the shoulder belt behind them or under their arm.

You should read the instructions provided with your child restraint to make sure that you are using it properly.

2. All occupants should always wear their lap and shoulder belts properly.

3. The driver and front passenger seats should be moved back as far as practical to allow the Advanced Front Air Bags room to inflate.

4. Do not lean against the door or window. Your vehicle has Supplemental Side Air Bag Inflatable Curtains (SABIC) or Supplemental Seat-Mounted Side Air Bags (SAB), and when deployment occurs, the SABIC and SAB air bags will inflate forcefully into the space between you and the door.

5. If the air bag system in this vehicle needs to be modified to accommodate a disabled person, contact the Customer Center. Phone numbers are provided in If You Need Consumer Assistance.

WARNING!

• Relying on the air bags alone could lead to more severe injuries in a collision. The air bags work with your seat belt to restrain you properly. In some collisions, the air bags won’t deploy at all.
Always wear your seat belts even though you have air bags.
• Being too close to the steering wheel or instrument panel during Advanced Front Air Bag deployment could cause serious injury, including death. Air Bags need room to inflate. Sit back, comfortably extending your arms to reach the steering wheel or instrument panel.
• Side air bags also need room to inflate. Do not lean against the door or window. Sit upright in the center of the seat.

WARNING!

In a collision, you and your passengers can suffer much greater injuries if you are not properly buckled up. You can strike the interior of your vehicle or other passengers, or you can be thrown out of the vehicle.

Always be sure you and others in your vehicle are buckled up properly.

Buckle up even though you are an excellent driver, even on short trips. Someone on the road may be a poor driver and cause a collision that includes you. This can happen far away from home or on your own street.

Research has shown that seat belts save lives, and they can reduce the seriousness of injuries in a collision. Some of the worst injuries happen when people are thrown from the vehicle. Seat belts reduce the possibility of 28 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE ejection and the risk of injury caused by striking the inside of the vehicle. Everyone in a motor vehicle should be belted at all times.

Occupant Restraints

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