1999 FORD E SERIES Owners Manual

SAFETY SEATS FOR CHILDREN
Child and infant or child safety seats
Use a safety seat that is recommended for the size and weight of the
child. Carefully follow all of the manufacturer's instructions with the
safety seat you put in your vehicle. If you do not install and use the
safety seat properly, the child may be injured in a sudden stop or
collision.
When installing a child safety seat:
²Review and follow the information
presented in theAir Bag
Supplemental Restraint System
section in this chapter.
²Use the correct safety belt buckle
for that seating position.
²Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle until you hear a
snap and feel it latch. Make sure
the tongue is securely fastened in
the buckle.
²Keep the buckle release button pointing up and away from the safety
seat, with the tongue between the child seat and the release button,
to prevent accidental unbuckling.
²Place seat back in upright position.
²Put the safety belt in the automatic locking mode. Refer toAutomatic
locking mode(passenger side front and outboard rear seating
positions)(if equipped).
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Ford recommends the use of a child safety seat having a top tether
strap. Install the child safety seat in a seating position which is capable
of providing a tether anchorage. For more information on top tether
straps, refer toAttaching safety seats with tether straps.
Carefully follow all of the manufacturer's instructions included
with the safety seat you put in your vehicle. If you do not install
and use the safety seat properly, the child may be injured in a sudden
stop or collision.
Installing child safety seats in combination lap and shoulder belt
seating positions
1. Position the child safety seat in a
seat with a combination lap and
shoulder belt.
An air bag can kill or injure a child in a child seat. If you must
use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move seat all
the way back.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.
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2. Pull down on the shoulder belt
and then grasp the shoulder belt
and lap belt together.
3. While holding the shoulder and
lap belt portions together, route the
tongue through the child seat
according to the child seat
manufacturer's instructions. Be sure
the belt webbing is not twisted.
4. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming
from) for that seating position until
you hear a snap and feel the latch
engage. Make sure the tongue is
latched securely by pulling on it.
PRESS
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5. To put the retractor in the
automatic locking mode, grasp the
shoulder portion of the belt and pull
downward until all of the belt is
extracted and a click is heard.
6. Allow the belt to retract. The belt will click as it retracts to indicate it
is in the automatic locking mode.
7. Pull the lap belt portion across
the child seat toward the buckle and
pull up on the shoulder belt while
pushing down with your knee on the
child seat.
8. Allow the safety belt to retract to
remove any slack in the belt.
9. Before placing the child in the
seat, forcibly tilt the seat forward
and back to make sure the seat is
securely held in place.
10. Try to pull the belt out of the retractor to make sure the retractor is
in the automatic locking mode (you should not be able to pull more belt
out). If the retractor is not locked, unbuckle the belt and repeat steps
two through nine.
Check to make sure the child seat is properly secured before each use.
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Attaching safety seats with tether straps
Some manufacturers make safety seats that include a tether strap that
goes over the back of the vehicle seat and attaches to an anchoring
point. Other manufacturers offer the tether strap as an accessory.
Contact the manufacturer of your child safety seat for information about
ordering a tether strap.
Tether anchorage hardware
Children should be placed in the rear in an appropriate child
safety seat that is properly secured to the vehicle.
Rear-facing infant seats must always be secured in the rear seat.
In vehicles without a rear seat, a rear-facing infant seat should
be secured in the front seat only if your vehicle does not have a
passenger side air bag or your vehicle is equipped with a passenger air
bag deactivate switch and the switch is turned to ªOFF.º
When using forward-facing child safety seats in vehicles with
only two seating positions so the forward-facing child safety seat
cannot be placed in the rear of the vehicle, move the passenger seat as
far back from the instrument panel as possible.
Front passenger seating position
The front passenger seating position does not require any tether
hardware. The tether can be attached directly to the rear of the front
seat.
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1. Position the child safety seat on
the front right-hand passenger seat.
2. Adjust the front right-hand
passenger seat full forward.
3. Route the child safety seat tether
strap over the back of the front
right-hand passenger seat as shown.
4. Grasp the tether strap and
position it to the seat pedestal as
shown.
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5. Rotate the tether strap as shown.
6. Clip the tether strap to the seat
pedestal as shown.
Do not clip the tether strap to the
seat pedestal as shown.
If the tether strap is clipped
incorrectly (as shown) the child
safety seat may not be retained
properly in the event of a
collision.
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7. Rotate the tether strap clip as
shown.
8. Adjust the front right-hand
passenger seat to the full rearward
position.
9. Refer to the instructions in this
section underInstalling child
safety seats in combination lap
and shoulder belt seating
positionsto secure the child safety
seat.
10. Tighten the child safety seat
tether strap according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
For additional important safety information on the proper use of
seatbelts, child seats and infant seats, please read the entireSeating
and safety restraintschapter in this owner's guide.
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