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Safety  Belt  Use  During  Pregnancy 
Safety belts work for everyone, including pregnant 
women.  Like  all occupants,  they are more  likely  to  be 
- seriously injured  if  they don’t wear safety  belts.  The 
best  way  to protect  the fetus  is  to protect the 
mother.  When  a safety  belt  is worn  properly,  it’s  more 
likely that  the  fetus won’t be hurt  in a crash.  For 
pregnant  women, as  for anyone, the  key  to  making 
safety belts effective  is wearing  them properly. 
A pregnant  woman  should  wear  a lap-shoulder belt, and 
the  lap  portion  should be  worn as low  as possible,  below 
the rounding, throughout the  pregnancy. 
Right  Front  Passenger  Position 
The right  front  passenger’s  safety belt  works  the same 
way  as  the driver’s  safety belt. See “Driver Position,” 
earlier  in this section. 
When  the shoulder belt is pulled out  all  the way, it will 
lock.  If it does; let  it go  back  all the  way  and start again. 
,Center  Passenger  Position 
Lap Belt 
If your  vehicle  has a bench  seat, someone  can sit in  the 
center position. 
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When  you  sit in a  center  seating  position,  you  have  a lap To make  the  belt  shorter,  pull its free end  as  shown  until 
To make  the  belt  the  belt  is snug. 
safety  belt,  which has no  retractor. 
longer,  tilt the  latch  plate  and pull 
it along  the  belt. 
- 
Buckle,  position  and  release  it the  same  way as  the  lap 
part  of  a  lap-shoulder  belt. 
If the  belt  isn’t  long  enough, 
see  “Safety  Belt  Extender’’  at  the  end 
of this  section. 
Make  sure  the  release  button  on  the  buckle  is positioned 
so you  would  be  able  to unbuckle  the  safety  belt  quickly 
if you  ever  had  to. 
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Rear  Seat  Passengers 
It’s  very important  for rear seat passengers  to  buckle  up! 
Accident  statistics show that unbelted  people in the rear 
seat are hurt  more  often in crashes  than those  who are 
wearing  safety belts. 
Rear passengers  who aren’t safety  belted can be  thrown 
out  of the vehicle  in 
a crash. And  they  can strike others 
in  the  vehicle  who are wearing  safety  belts. 
Rear  Seat  Outside-Passenger  Positions 
(2-Door 
Models) 
If  you  have a four-door  model, see “Rear Seat Outside 
Passenger  Positions (4-DOOr Models).”  later in 
this  section. 
i 
Lap-Shoulder  Belt  (2-Door  Models) 
The  positions  next to the windows  have lap-shoulder 
belts.  Here’s  how  to wear  one properly. 
1. Pick  up  the  latch plate  and  pull  the  belt  across you. 
Don’t  let it  get  twisted. 
2. Push the latch plate into the  buckle  until  it clicks. 
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If  the  belt  stops  before it reaches  the  buckle,  tilt the  latch 3. To make  the  lap  part  tight,  pull  down  on  the  buckle 
plate  and  keep  pulling  until  you  can  buckle  it. end of the  belt  as  you  pull  up  on the  shoulder 
part. 
Pull  up  on the  latch  plate  to  make  sure it is  secure. 
If  the  belt  is not  long  enough,  see  “Safety  Belt 
Extender”  at the  end  of  this  section.  Make  sure  the 
release  button 
on the  buckle  is positioned so you  would 
be  able  to  unbuckle  the  safety  belt  quickly 
if you  ever 
had  to.  
     
        
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The lap part  of the  belt should be  worn  low  and  snug  on 
the hips, 
just touching  the thighs. In a crash, this applies 
force  to the strong pelvic  bones.  And  you’d be less likely 
to slide  under the  lap  belt. 
If you slid under  it, the 
belt  would  apply  force  at your abdomen. This  could 
cause serious or  even fatal injuries.  The shoulder belt 
shduld  go  over the shoulder  and across the chest. 
These parts 
of the  body  are best  able  to take belt 
restraining forces. 
The  safety  belt locks  if there’s  a sudden  stop  or  a crash. 
1 
You  can be  seriously  hurt if your  shoulder  belt  is 
too loose. In a  crash,  you  would  move  forward 
too much,  which  could  increase  injury.  The 
shoulder  belt  should  fit  against  your  body. 
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Rear  Seat  Outside  Passenger  Positions (4-Door  Models) 
U 
If you  have a  two-door  model,  see “Rear  Seat  Outside 
Passenger  Positions  (2-Door  Models)”  earlier in 
this  section. 
To unlatch  the  belt,  just push the  button  on the buckle. 
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Lap-Shoulder  Belt  (4-Door  Models) 
The positions  next  to  the windows  have lap-shoulder 
belts.  Here’s  how 
tn wear nne prnndy. 
2. Push  the  latch  plate  into the  buckle  until  it clicks. 
“ Pull  up  on the  latch  plate  to.make sure it is  secure. 
When  the shoulder  belt  is pulled  out all  the  way,  it 
will  lock. 
If it  does, let  it go  back  all  the  way  and 
start  again. 
If  the  belt  is not  long  enough,  see  “Safety  Belt 
 Extender”  at the  end  of  this  section. 
Make  sure  the  release  button  on the  buckle  is 
positioned 
so you  would  be  able to  unbuckle  the 
, safety  belt  quickly  if  you ever had  to. 
1. Pick  up  the  latch  plate  and  pull  the belt  across  you. 
Don’t  let it get  twisted. 
The  shoulder  belt  may  lock if  you  pull  the belt  across 
you  very  quickly.  If  this  happens,  let  the  belt 
go back 
slightly  to unlock  it. Then  pull  the  belt  across  you 
more  slowly. 
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3. To make  the  lap part  tight,  pull  down  on  the  buckle 
end  of the  belt  as  you  pull  up  on  the  shoulder  part.  The 
lap  part  of the  belt  should  be  worn low and  snug  on 
the  hips,  just touching  the  thighs.  In  a  crash,  this  applies 
force  to  the  strong  pelvic  bones.  And  you'd  be  less 
likely  to  slide  under  the  lap  belt.  If  you  slid  under  it, the 
belt  would  apply  force  at your  abdomen.  This  could 
cause  serious 
or even  fatal  injuries.  The shoulder  belt 
should  go  over  the  shoulder  and  across  the  chest. 
These  parts  of the  body  are best  able  to  take  belt 
restraining  forces, 
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