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Seat Belt Pretensioner and
Load Limiting Systems
For optimum protection, the driver and
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:
In moderate or severe frontal or near-
frontal accidents, the air bag and
pretensioner systems deploy
simultaneously when the seat belt is worn.
If the seat occupant is not wearing a seat
belt, that person's pretensioner will not
fire even if the air bag does. The seat belt
retractors remove slack quickly as the air
bags are expanding.
In addition, the pretensioner system for
the passenger, like the passenger air bag,
is designed to only deploy in accordance
with the total seated weight on the
passenger seat (page 2-37) or when the
passenger air bag deactivation switch
turned off (page 2-30). Any time the air
bags and seat belt pretensioners have fired
they must be replaced.
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.
WARNING
Wear seat belts only as recommended
in this owner's manual:
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. For more details about
wearing seat belts, refer to “Fastening
the seat belts” (page 2-8).
Have your seat belts changed
immediately if the pretensioner or load
limiter has been expended:
If the air bags deploy the
corresponding pretensioner(s) may
also deploy at the same time. While it
is safer to use a crash-used seat belt
that was used in an accident than no
seat belt at all, using a seat belt with
an expended pretensioner or load
limiter loaded reduces the safety
available to you. 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 this is
another reason to have the seat belts
inspected.
2-10
Essential SafetyEquipment
Seat Belt Systems
MX-5_8V80-EA-06F_Edition1 Page22
Monday, June 12 2006 12:56 AM
Form No.8V80-EA-06F