2002 HONDA PASSPORT Owners Manual

Driver and Passenger Safety22
General Guidelines for
Using Child Seats
The
following pages give general
guidelines for selecting and
installing child 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). 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 26 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 31 for additional information
on protecting small children.
3. The child seat should fit the
vehicle seating position (or
positions) where it will be
used.

Driver and Passenger Safety23
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 that
one or more child seat models can
fit and be properly installed in all
recommended seating positions in
your vehicle.
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 a different one that will fit.

Driver and Passenger Safety24
Placing a Child Seat
This page briefly summarizes
Honda’s recommendations on where
to place rear-facing and forward-
facing child seats in your vehicle.
Airbags Pose Serious
Risks to Children
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. Front Passenger’s Seat
Infants:
Never in the front seat,
due 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 the
seat belt (see page 31).
Back Seats
Infants: Recommended positions.
Properly secure a rear-facing child
seat (see page 27).
Small children: Recommended
positions. Properly secure a
front-facing child seat (see page
31).

Driver and Passenger Safety 25
Installing a Child Seat
After selecting a proper child seat,
and a good position to install the
seat, there are three main steps to
installing the seat:
1. Properly secure the child seat
to the vehicle. All child seats
are designed to be secured to
the vehicle with the lap part of
a lap/shoulder belt. Some
child seats can be secured to
the vehicle’s LATCH
anchorage system instead. A
child whose seat is not
properly secured to the vehicle
can be endangered in a crash.
See pages 34, 38, and 39 for
instructions on how to
properly secure child seats in
this vehicle. 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.

Driver and Passenger Safety26
3.Secure the child in the child
seat. Make sure the child is
properly strapped 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 vehicle during a crash or
sudden stop and injure someone.Protecting Infants
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.
Placing a rear-facing child seat
in 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.
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.

Driver and Passenger Safety 27
Rear-Facing Child Seat
Placement
In this vehicle, 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. When properly installed, a rear-
facing child seat may prevent a
driver or a front seat passenger
from moving the seat as far back
as recommended (see page 10).
Or it may prevent them from
locking the seat-back in the
desired upright position (see page
11).
In either case, we recommend that
you place the child seat directly
behind the front passenger seat,
move the front seat as far forward
as needed, and leave it
unoccupied. You may also wish to
get a smaller child seat that allows
you to safely carry a front
passenger.
Installing a Rear-Facing Child
Seat With a Lap/Shoulder Belt
The lap/shoulder belts in the outer
back seats have a locking
mechanism that must be activated
to secure a child seat.
The following pages provide
instructions on how to secure a
rear-facing child seat with this
type of seat belt.
See page 30 for how to secure a
rear-facing child seat in the center
back seat with the lap belt. For
tips on installing an infant seat
with either type of seat belt, see
page 31.

Driver and Passenger Safety28
If you have a child seat designed
to attach to the vehicle ’s LATCH
anchorage system, follow the
instructions on page 39.
1. With the child seat in the desired back 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).

Driver and Passenger Safety29
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.4. After confirming that the beltis locked, grab the shoulder
part of the belt near the buckle
and pull up to remove any
slack from the lap part of the
belt.
Remember, if the lap part of
the belt is not tight, the child
seat will not be secure. To
remove slack, it may help to
put weight on the child seat, or
push on the back of the seat,
while pulling up on the belt.
5. Push and pull the child seat
forward and from side to side
to verify that it is secure
enough to stay upright during
normal driving maneuvers.
If the child seat is not secure,
unlatch the belt, allow it to
retract fully, then repeat these
steps.