Get Essential Safety Equipment -> Seat Belt Systems Guide for Mazda 3 4 Door Third Generation (2014-2018)

Essential Safety Equipment

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.

(U.S.A. and Canada)

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.

(Mexico)

The front seats and rear outboard seats have lap/shoulder belts. These belts have retractors

with inertia locks that keep them out of the way when not in use. The locks allow the belts

to remain comfortable on users, but they will lock in position during a collision.

The rear center seat has a lap belt with manual adjustment.

WARNING

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.

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.

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Essential Safety Equipment

Seat Belt Systems

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 front seat belt

pretensioners and air bags after any collision. Like the air bags, the front 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 front 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.

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.

CAUTION

Belt retraction may become diꢀcult if the belts and rings are soiled, so try to keep them

clean. For more details about cleaning the seat belts, refer to "Cleaning the Lap/Shoulder

Belt Webbing" (page 6-72).

Ring

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Essential Safety Equipment

Seat Belt Systems

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.

Emergency Locking Mode

When the seat belt is fastened, it will always be in the emergency locking mode.

In the emergency locking mode, the belt remains comfortable on the occupant and the

retractor will lock in position during a collision.

If the belt is locked and cannot be pulled out, retract the belt once, and then try pulling it out

slowly. If this fails, pull the belt strongly one time and loosen, then pull it out again slowly.

(Seat Belt with Automatic Locking Mode)

When the seat belt is fastened, it will always be in the emergency locking mode until it is

switched to automatic locking mode by pulling it all the way out to its full length. If the belt

feels tight and hinders comfortable movement while the vehicle is stopped or in motion, it

may be in the automatic locking mode because the belt has been pulled too far out. To return

the belt to the more comfortable emergency locking mode, wait until the vehicle has stopped

in a safe, level area, retract the belt fully to convert it back to emergency locking mode and

then extend it around you again.

Automatic Locking Mode^*

Always use the automatic locking mode to keep the child-restraint system from shifting to

an unsafe position in the event of an accident. To enable seat belt automatic locking mode,

pull it all the way out and connect it as instructed on the child-restraint system. It will retract

down to the child-restraint system and stay locked on it. See the section on child restraint

(page 2-23).

*Some models.

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Essential Safety Equipment

Seat Belt Systems

Unfastening the Seat Belt

3-Point Type 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.

Fastening the Seat Belt

Seat belt tongue

Seat belt

buckle

Button

Position the lap belt as low as possible,

not on the abdominal area, then adjust the

shoulder belt so that it ﬁts snugly against

your body.

NOTE

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.

Take up slack

Keep low on

hip bone

Front Shoulder Belt Adjuster

To raise

To lower

Too high

Make sure the adjuster is locked.

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Essential Safety Equipment

Seat Belt Systems

Seat Belt Warning Systems

If it detects that the driver's seat belt is

unfastened, the warning light or beep

alerts the driver.

Front Seat Belt

Pretensioner and Load

Limiting Systems

Refer to Warning/Indicator Lights on page

4-20.

For optimum protection, the driver and

front passenger 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.

For vehicles with the front passenger

occupant classiﬁcation system, 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 (page 2-54).

The front 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 Warning/Indicator Lights on page

4-20.

Refer to Air Bag/Front Seat Belt

Pretensioner System Warning Beep on

page 7-35.

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Essential Safety Equipment

Seat Belt Systems

(With Front Passenger Occupant

Classiﬁcation System)

Have your seat belts changed

immediately if the pretensioner or load

limiter has been expended:

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 (page 2-57).

Always have an Authorized Mazda

Dealer immediately inspect the front

seat belt pretensioners and air bags

after any collision. Like the air bags, the

front 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

front seat belt pretensioners and load

limiters are not replaced, the risk of

injury in a collision will increase.

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.

Do not modify the components or

wiring, or use electronic testing devices

on the pretensioner system:

Even if the pretensioners have not ﬁred,

the load limiting function must be checked

by an Authorized Mazda Dealer.

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.

WARNING

Wear seat belts only as recommended in

this owner's manual:

Incorrect positioning of the driver

and front 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.

For more details about wearing seat

belts, refer to "Fastening the seat belts"

(page 2-16).

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.

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Essential Safety Equipment

Seat Belt Systems

NOTE

Center-Rear Position

2-Point Type Seat Belt^*

^ꢀyꢀ(With Front Passenger Occupant

Classiﬁcation System)

^ꢀThe pretensioner system will not

activate in rear impacts.

Fastening the Seat Belt

^ꢀyꢀ(Without Front Passenger Occupant

Classiﬁcation System)

^ꢀThe pretensioner system will not

activate in most roll-overs and rear

impacts.

1. Pull the seat belt tongue to the desired

length.

2. Insert it into the seat belt buckle until

you hear a click sound.

^ꢀyꢀSome 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 front

pretensioner system gets on the skin

or in the eyes, wash it off as soon as

possible.

Seat belt tongue

Seat belt

buckle

*Some models.

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Essential Safety Equipment

Seat Belt Systems

3. Adjust the belt length.

WARNING

To lengthen the belt, hold the seat belt

tongue at a right angle to the webbing

and pull. To shorten, pull the loose end

of the webbing.

Wearing the Lap Belt:

A lap 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 belt snugly and as

low as possible.

Lengthen

Unfastening the Seat Belt

Depress the button on the seat belt buckle.

Shorten

Button

4. Make sure the lap belt is snugly ﬁtted

against your body.

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Essential Safety Equipment

Seat Belt Systems

Seat Belt Extender

WARNING

If your seat belt is not long enough, even

when fully extended, a seat belt extender

may be available to you at no charge from

your Authorized Mazda Dealer.

This extender will be only for you and for

the particular vehicle and seat. Even if it

plugs into other seat belts, it may not hold

in the critical moment of a crash.

When ordering an extender, only order

one that provides the necessary additional

length to fasten the seat belt properly.

Please contact your Authorized Mazda

Dealer for more information.

Do not use a seat belt extender unless it

is necessary:

Using a seat belt extender when not

necessary is dangerous. The seat belt

will be too long and not ꢁt properly.

In an accident, the seat belt will not

provide adequate protection and you

could be seriously injured. Only use the

extender when it is required to fasten

the seat belt properly.

Do not use an improper extender:

Using a seat belt extender that is for

another person or a diꢂerent vehicle

or seat is dangerous. The seat belt will

not provide adequate protection and

the user could be seriously injured in

an accident. Only use the extender

provided for you and for the particular

vehicle and seat. NEVER use the

extender in a diꢂerent vehicle or seat.

If you sell your Mazda, do not leave

your seat belt extender in the vehicle. It

could be used accidentally by the new

owner of the vehicle. After removing

the seat belt extender, discard it. Never

use the seat belt extender in any other

vehicle you may own in the future.

Do not use an extender that is too long:

Using an extender that is too long is

dangerous. The seat belt will not ꢁt

properly. In an accident, the seat belt

will not provide adequate protection

and you could be seriously injured.

Do not use the extender or choose

one shorter in length if the distance

between the extender's buckle and the

center of the user's body is less than 15

cm (6 in).

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Essential Safety Equipment

Seat Belt Systems

Do not leave a seat belt extender

connected to the buckle:

Leaving a seat belt extender connected

to the buckle without using the seat

belt is dangerous. When the seat

belt extender is connected to the

driver's seat belt buckle (or front

passenger) seat, the SRS driver's (or

front passenger's) air bag system will

determine that the driver (or front

passenger) is wearing the seat belt

even if the driver (or front passenger)

is not wearing it. This condition could

cause the driver's (or front passenger's)

air bag to not activate correctly and

result in death or serious injury in the

event of collision. Always wear the seat

belt with the seat belt extender.

Do not use the seat belt extender when

installing a child-restraint system on the

front or rear passenger seat:

Using a seat belt extender to fasten

a child-restraint system on any seat

is dangerous. Always follow the

child-restraint system manufacturer's

installation instructions and never use

a seat belt extender.

NOTE

When not in use, remove the seat belt

extender and store it in the vehicle. If the

seat belt extender is left connected, the

seat belt extender might get damaged

as it will not retract with the rest of the

seat belt and can easily fall out of the

door when not in use and be damaged. In

addition, the seat belt warning light will

not illuminate and function properly.

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Essential Safety Equipment -> Seat Belt Systems for Your Mazda 3 4 Door Third Generation (2014-2018)

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