2000 HONDA PRELUDE seats

Protectin
g Childre n

Genera l Guideline s fo r Usin g
Chil d Seat s
The following pages give general guidelines for selecting and installingchild seats for infants and small
children.

Selecting a Child Seat

To provide proper protection, a child seat should meet three
requirements:

1. The child seat should meet
safety standards. The child seat

should meet Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 213 (FMVSS 213) or Canadian
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
213 (CMVSS 213). Look for the
manufacturer's statement of
compliance on the box and seat.

2. The child seat should be of the
proper type and size to fit the
child.
Infants: Children up to about one
year old should be restrained in a
rear-facing, reclining child seat. Only
a rear-facing seat provides the proper support to protect an infant's
head, neck, and back. See page 29 for additional information on
protecting infants. Small Children: A child who is too
large for a rear-facing child seat, and
who can sit up without support, should be restrained in a forward-
facing child seat. See page 36 for
additional information on protecting
small children.

CONTINUED

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Protectin
g Childre n

3. The child seat should fit the vehicle seating position (or
positions) where it will be used.
Due to variations in the design of child seats, vehicle seats, and seat
belts, all child seats will not fit all
vehicle seating positions.
However, Honda is confident thatone or more child seat models can fit
and be properly installed in all
recommended seating positions in
your car. Before purchasing a child seat, we
recommend that parents test the
child seat in the specific vehicle
seating position (or positions) where
they intend to use the seat. If a previously purchased child seat does
not fit, you may need to buy adifferent one that will fit.
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Protectin
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Placing a Child Seat

This page briefly summarizes
Honda's recommendations on where

to place rear-facing and forward-

facing child seats in your car.
Front Passenger's Seat

Infants: Never in the front seat, clue
to the passenger's airbag hazard.

Small children: Not recommended,
due to the passenger's airbag
hazard. If a small child must ride in front, move the vehicle seat to
the rear-most position and secure a front-facing child seat with theseat belt (see page 34).

Back Seats
Infants: Recommended positions.
Secure a rear-facing child seat
with the seat belt (see page 30 ).

Small children: Recommended
positions. Secure a front-facingchild seat with the seat belt (see
page 34 ).
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y
Airbag
s Pos e Seriou s
Risk s t o Childre n
The passenger's airbag inflates
with enough force to kill or seriously injure an infant in a
rear-facing child seat.
A small child in a forward-facing child seat is also at risk. If the
vehicle seat is too far forward, or the child's head is thrown
forward during a collision, an
inflating airbag can kill or seriously injure the child.
If a small child must ride in the
front, follow the instructions
provided in this section. CONTINUED

Protectin
g Childre n

Installing a Child Seat

After selecting a proper child seat, and a good position to install the seat,
there are three main steps in
installing the seat:

1. Secure the child seat to the car
with a seat belt. All child seats

must be secured to the car with
the lap part of a lap/shoulder belt.
A child whose seat is not properly secured to the car can be
endangered in a crash. See pages 30 and 34 for instructions on how
to secure child seats in this car.

2. Make sure the child seat is firmly
secured. After installing a child
seat, push and pull the seat
forward and from side to side to
verify that it is secure. To provide security during normal
driving maneuvers as well as during
a collision, we recommend that
parents secure a child seat as firmly as possible.
However, a child seat does not need
to be "rock solid." In some vehicles
or seating positions, it may be
difficult to install a child seat so that
it does not move at all. Some side-to- side or back-and-forth movement can
be expected and should not reduce
the child seat's effectiveness.
If the child seat is not secure, try
installing it in a different seating
position, or use a different style of child seat that can be firmly secured
in the desired seating position.
3. Secure the child in the child seat.

Make sure the child is properlystrapped in the child seat
according to the child seat maker's
instructions. A child who is not properly secured in a child seat
can be thrown out of the seat in a
crash and seriously injured.

Storing a Child Seat

When you are not using a child seat, either remove it and store it in a safe
place, or make sure it is properly secured. An unsecured child seat can
be thrown around the car during a crash or sudden stop and injuresomeone.
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Protectin
g Childre n

Protectin g Infant s

Child Seat Type

Only a rear-facing child seat provides
proper support for a baby's head,
neck, and back. Infants up to about
one year of age must be restrained in
a rear-facing child seat.
Two types of seats may be used: a seat designed exclusively for infants,
or a convertible seat used in the rear-
facing, reclining mode. We recommend that an infant be
restrained in a rear-facing child seat
until the infant reaches the seat
maker's weight or height limit and is
able to sit up without support.
Rear-Facing Child Seat Placement

In this car, a rear-facing child seat
can be placed in any seating position
in the back seat, but not in the front

seat.

Never put a rear-facing child seat in
the front seat. If the passenger's
airbag inflates, it can hit the back of
the child seat with enough force to
kill or seriously injure an infant. If an infant must be closely watched, we
recommend that another adult sit in
the back seat with the baby.

Do not put a rear-facing child seat in

a forward-facing position. If placed

facing forward, an infant could be
very seriously injured during a
frontal collision.
Driver an d Passenge r Safet y
CONTINUED

Placing a rear-facing child seat
i
n the front seat can result in
serious injury or death if the
airbags inflate.
Always place a rear-facing child seat in the back seat, not the

front.

Protecting Childre n
Rear-Facing Child Seat Installation
The lap/shoulder belts in the back
seats have a locking mechanism that
must be activated to secure a child
seat.
The following pages provide instructions and tips on how tosecure a rear-facing child seat with
this type of seat belt.
1. With the child seat in the desiredback seating position, route the
belt through the child seat
according to the seat maker's
instructions, then insert the latch
plate into the buckle. 2. To activate the lockable retractor,
slowly pull the shoulder part of the
belt all the way out until it stops,
then let the belt feed back into the
retractor (you might hear a
clicking noise as the belt retracts).
3. After the belt has retracted, tug on it. If the belt is locked, you will not
be able to pull it out. If you can pull
the belt out, it is not locked and
you will need to repeat these steps.
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Protectin
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Protectin g Smal l Childre n
Child Seat Type
A child who can sit up without support, and who fits within the childseat maker's weight and height
limits, should be restrained in a
forward-facing, upright child seat. Of the different seats available, we
recommend those that have a five- point harness system as shown.
We also recommend that a small child stay in the child seat as long as
possible, until the child reaches the
weight or height limit for the seat. Child Seat Placement
In this car, the best place to install a
forward-facing child seat is in one of the seating positions in the back seat.

Placing a forward-facing child seat inthe front seat of a vehicle equipped
with a passenger airbag can be

hazardous. If the car seat is too far
forward, or the child's head is
thrown forward during a collision, an inflating passenger's airbag canstrike the child with enough force to
cause very serious or fatal injuries. If
a small child must be closely
watched, we recommend that another adult sit in the back seat
with the child.

CONTINUED

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Protectin
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To deactivate the locking mechanism in order to remove a
child seat, unlatch the buckle,
unroute the seat belt, and let the belt
fully retract. Additional Precautions for Small
Children
Never hold a small child on your

lap. If you are not wearing a seat
belt in a crash, you could be
thrown forward into the dashboard and crush the child.
If you are wearing a seat belt, the
child can be torn from your arms during a crash. For example, if
your car crashes into a parked
vehicle at 30 mph (48 km/h), a 30-lb (14 kg) child will become a
900-lb (410 kg) force, and you will
not be able to hold on.
Never put a seat belt over yourself

and a child. During a crash, the

belt could press deep into the child
and cause very serious injuries.
Protectin
g Large r Childre n
When a child reaches the recommended weight or height limit
for a forward-facing child seat, the child should sit in one of the backseats and wear a lap/shoulder belt.
If a child is too short for the shoulder
part of the belt to properly fit, we recommend that the child use a
booster seat until they are tall enough to use the seat belt without a
booster.
The following pages give instructions on how to check properseat belt fit, what kind of booster
seat to use if one is needed, and
important precautions for children
who must sit in the front seat.
Drive r an d Passenge r Safet y