Dear Land Rover Owner:
This letter is being sent to all the Range Rover Classic, Range Rover 4.0, 4.6, and Land Rover Discovery models equipped with driver and passenger side Supplemental Restraint Systems/airbags. Please take the few minutes necessary to read this letter, together with the enclosed letter from NHTSA administrator, Ricardo Martinez, M.D., and to follow are the instructions to affix the enclosed new SRS/airbag warning labels to your vehicle sun visors.
We are certain that you are aware of the recent controversy with respect to inquiries and, in a few instances, fatalities that have resulted from the deployment of airbags in certain accidents. Some of you have contacted us with requests for information, in particular about proper seating location for children in your Land Rover.
The single most important point to remember is to always wear your seat belts. Airbags can and do save lives, but they are supplemental and are most effective when used with the seat belts.
When a seat belt is not used, serious injury, and in some cases death, can result to infants, small children, adults of a short nature and other individuals who may have shifted close to the airbag during pre-impact maneuvering.
More than 53,000,000 airbags are on the road in cars and trucks of all makes. It has been estimated that airbags have deployed in more than 800,000 crashes and have contributed to saving the lives of more than 1,657 individuals. There have been approximately 50 instances where individuals, primarily children, have been killed as a result of the deployment and impact of the airbag itself. In virtually all of these instances, the individuals were either not belted or not properly restrained with the seat belt in the vehicle. While these instances have received a great deal of attention, particularly in the last several months, it is likely that if these individuals had been properly restrained, their injuries would have been much less severe or nonexistent.
Airbags inflate very fast and very hard. The Federal Government requires that the manufacturers design the airbags so that they benefit individuals who fail to wear their seat belts. The force of the bag can harm anyone in the front seat who is too close to the bag, or may actually be in contact with the bag at the time it deploys. Children age 12 and under, or weighing less than 60 pounds, are at particular risk in the front seat if they are not properly restrained by the seat belts.
Please follow the simple rules below to ensure the safety of your passengers on every trip, no matter how short:
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NEVER put a rear-facing child seat in the front passenger seat of your Land Rover or any other vehicle equipped with a passenger-side airbag.
Always place children age 12 or under in the back seat.
Use a child seat or a booster seat that is appropriate for their age and weight. Follow the instructions of the manufacturer of your child's seat to properly anchor the seat.
Always move both driver and passenger seats as far back as possible from the airbag.
Drivers of very short nature have a tendency to move their seats very close to the steering wheel. This puts them at a much greater risk in an accident since it allows less room for the airbag to deploy. Those drivers should investigate the possibility of using pedal extenders, which are available from adaptive equipment dealers. Please contact the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association at 1-800-528-3769 for the address of the dealer nearest you.
Please visit your local retailer to obtain hard copies of this information, as well as two sets of new labels for you to affix to your sun visors. Your Land Rover currently carries a notice on the face of the sun visors indicating that there are instructions for the use and maintenance of airbags on the back of the sun visors. Please follow the enclosed instruction sheet for the specific Land Rover vehicle that you own to position the four (4) labels or ask your Land Rover Retailer to install them for you.
Finally, please read the letter from the NHTSA's administrator, Ricardo Martinez, M.D., wherein he reiterates the benefits of airbags, and more importantly, the need to use them in conjunction with your seat belts. Land Rover led the way in being the first sport utility to introduce dual airbags in the United States. In all of our marketing materials, advertising, and owner's manuals, we stress the absolute importance of wearing your seat belts at all times and the importance of knowing that the airbag system is only supplemental to your primary safety feature-seat belts.
Sincerely yours,
Land Rover North America, Inc.
Land Rover Discovery
Air Bag warning labels
(With illuminated vanity mirrors)
Visor-up Position:
Apply supplied label
"AIRBAG WARNING
FLIP VISOR OVER"
to visor surface at indicated location near the hinge points.
Visor-down Position:
Apply supplied label
"WARNING"
to visor surface at indicated location even with the top of the vanity mirrors.
Land Rover Discovery
Air Bag warning labels
(Without illuminated vanity mirrors)
Visor-up Position:
Apply supplied label
"AIRBAG WARNING
FLIP VISOR OVER"
to visor surface at indicated location near the outside hinge points.
Visor-down Position:
Apply supplied label
"WARNING"
to visor surface at indicated location over the top of the vanity mirrors.
Land Rover Range Rover Classic
Air Bag warning labels
Visor-up Position:
Apply supplied label
"AIRBAG WARNING
FLIP VISOR OVER"
to visor surface at indicated location near the hinge points.
Visor-down Position:
Apply supplied label
"WARNING"
to visor surface at indicated location next to the top edge of the lower center.
Land Rover Range Rover 4.0/4.6
Air Bag warning labels
Visor-up Position:
Apply supplied label
"AIRBAG WARNING
FLIP VISOR OVER"
to visor surface at indicated location near center hinge points.
Visor-down Position:
Apply supplied label
"WARNING"
to visor surface at indicated location even with the top of the vanity mirrors.
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