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To unlatch the belt, just push the button on the buckle.
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
If your vehicle has a rear seat, your vehicle has shoulder
belt comfort guides. This feature will provide added
safety belt comfort for children who have outgrown
child restraints and for small adults. When installed on a
shoulder belt, the comfort guide pulls the belt away
from the neck and head.There is one guide for each outside passenger position in
the rear seat. To provide added safety belt comfort for
children who have outgrown child restraints and for
smaller adults, the comfort guides may be installed on
the shoulder belts. Here's how to install a comfort guide
and use the safety belt:
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1. Remove the guide from its storage clip on the side of
the seatback.
2. Slide the guide under and past the belt. The elastic
cord must be under the belt. Then, place the guide
over the belt, and insert the two edges of the belt into
the slots of the guide.
3. Be sure that the belt is not twisted and it lies flat.
The elastic cord must be under the belt and the guide
on top.
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4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described in ªRear Seat Outside Passenger Positions
(Extended Cab)º or ªRear Seat Outside Passenger
Positions (Crew Cab)º earlier in this section. Make
sure that the shoulder belt crosses the shoulder.To remove and store the comfort guides, squeeze the
belt edges together so that you can take them out from
the guides. Slide the guide onto the storage clip.
Make sure you remove the comfort guide from the belt
before you fold a rear seat down or use an easy
-entry
seat, if your vehicle has one.
Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! That includes
infants and all children smaller than adult size. Neither
the distance traveled nor the age and size of the traveler
changes the need, for everyone, to use safety restraints.
In fact, the law in every state in the United States and in
every Canadian province says children up to some age
must be restrained while in a vehicle.
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CAUTION:
Children who are up against, or very close to, any
air bag when it inflates can be seriously injured
or killed. This is true even though your vehicle
has Next Generation frontal air bags. Air bags
plus lap
-shoulder belts offer the best protection
for adults, but not for young children and
infants. Neither the vehicle's safety belt system
nor its air bag system is designed for them.
Young children and infants need the protection
that a child restraint system can provide. Always
secure children properly in your vehicle.
CAUTION:
Smaller children and babies should always be
restrained in a child or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint will say whether it is
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
the right type and size for your child. A very
young child's hip bones are so small that a
regular belt might not stay low on the hips, as it
should. Instead, the belt will likely be over the
child's abdomen. In a crash, the belt would apply
force right on the child's abdomen, which could
cause serious or fatal injuries. So, be sure that
any child small enough for one is always properly
restrained in a child or infant restraint.
Infants need complete support, including support for the
head and neck. This is necessary because an infant's neck
is weak and its head weighs so much compared with the
rest of its body. In a frontal crash, an infant in a rear
-facing
restraint settles into the restraint, so the crash forces can be
distributed across the strongest part of the infant's body,
the back and shoulders. A baby should be secured in an
appropriate infant restraint. This is so important that many
hospitals today won't release a newborn infant to its
parents unless there is an infant restraint available for the
baby's first trip in a motor vehicle.
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CAUTION:
Never hold a baby in your arms while riding in a
vehicle. A baby doesn't weigh much
-- until a
crash. During a crash a baby will become so
heavy you can't hold it. For example, in a crash
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
at only 25 mph (40 km/h), a 12-lb. (5.5 kg) baby
will suddenly become a 240
-lb. (110 kg) force on
your arms. The baby would be almost impossible
to hold.
Secure the baby in an infant restraint.
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Child Restraints
Every time infants and young children ride in
vehicles, they should have protection provided by
appropriate restraints.
Q:What are the different types of add-on child
restraints?
A:Add-on child restraints are available in four basic
types. When selecting a child restraint, take into
consideration not only the child's weight and size,
but also whether or not the restraint will be
compatible with the motor vehicle in which it
will be used.
An infant car bed (A) is a special bed made for use
in a motor vehicle. It's an infant restraint system
designed to restrain or position a child on a
continuous flat surface. With an infant car bed,
make sure that the infant's head rests toward the
center of the vehicle.
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A rear-facing infant restraint (B) positions an infant
to face the rear of the vehicle. Rear
-facing infant
restraints are designed for infants of up to about
20 lbs. (9 kg) and about one year of age. This type of
restraint faces the rear so that the infant's head, neck
and body can have the support they need in a frontal
crash. Some infant seats come in two parts
-- the
base stays secured in the vehicle and the seat part
is removable.
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A forward-facing child restraint (C-E) positions a
child upright to face forward in the vehicle. These
forward
-facing restraints are designed to help protect
children who are from 20 to 40 lbs. (9 to 18 kg) and
about 26 to 40 inches (66 to 102 cm) in height, or up
to around four years of age. One type, a convertible
restraint, is designed to be used either as a rear
-facing
infant seat or a forward
-facing child seat.