2002 SUBARU LEGACY Owners Manual

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-35
–
CONTINUED –
WARNING
Child restraint systems and seatbelts can become hot in a ve-
hicle that has been closed up in sunny weather; they could burn a small child. Check the child restraint system before you place achild in it. Do not leave an unsecured child restraint system in your vehi-
cle. Unsecured child restraint systems can be thrown around in-
side of the vehicle in a sudden stop, turn or accident; it can strikeand injure vehicle occupants as well as result in serious injuriesor death to the child.
Infants and small children should always be placed in an infant or child
restraint system in the rear seat while riding in the vehicle. You should
use an infant or child restraint system that meets Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standards or Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, is compat-
ible with your vehicle and is appropriate for the child ’s age and size. All
child restraint systems are designed to be secured in vehicle seats by
lap belts or the lap belt portion of a lap/shoulder belt (except those cov-
ered under the section in this manual, entitled “Instruction of child re-
straint systems by use of lower and tether anchorages ”).
Children could be endangered in an accident if their child restraints are
not properly secured in the vehicle. When installing the child restraint
system, carefully follow the manufacturer ’s instructions.
According to accident statistics, children are safer when properly re-
strained in the rear seating positions than in the front seating positions.
All U.S. states and Canadian provinces require that infants and small
children be restrained in an approved child restraint system at all timeswhile the vehicle is moving. Installing child restraint systems with seatbelt
NOTE When the child restraint system is no longer in use, remove it and
restore the ELR function of the retractor. That function is restored
by allowing the seatbelt to retract fully.

1-36
CAUTION
When you install a child restraint system, follow the manufactur-
er’ s instructions supplied with it. After installing the child re-
straint system, check to ensure that it is held securely in posi-
tion. If it is not held tight and secure, the danger of your childsuffering personal injury in the event of an accident may be in-creased.
HB1080BA
1. Set the child restraint system in the seating position.
2. Run the lap and shoulder belt through or around the child restraint
system following the instructions provided by its manufacturer. If the
shoulder belt goes in front of the child ’s face or neck, put it behind the
child restraint system.
3. Insert the tongue plate into the buckle.
4. Take up the slack in the lap belt.
5. Pull out the seatbelt fully from the retractor to change the retractor
over from the Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) to the Automatic
Locking Retractor (ALR) function. Then, allow the belt to rewind into
the retractor. As the belt is rewinding, clicks will be heard which indi-
cate the retractor functions as ALR.
6. Before having a child sit in the child restraint system, move it back
and forth to check if it is firmly secured. Sometimes a child restraint
can be more firmly secured by pushing it down into the seat cushionand then tightening the seatbelt.

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-37
–
CONTINUED –
7. Pull at the shoulder portion of the belt to confirm that it cannot be
pulled out (ALR properly functioning).
If the child restraint system requires a top tether, latch the hook onto
the top tether anchorage and tighten the top tether. See the “Top teth-
er anchorages ” for additional instructions.
HB1083BAHBS065BA
8. To remove the child restraint system, press the release button on
the seatbelt buckle and allow the belt to retract completely. The belt
will return to the ELR mode.
If you have any question concerning this type of child restraint sys-
tem, ask your SUBARU dealer.

1-38
Installation of child restraint systems by use of lower and teth- er anchorages
Some types of child restraint systems can be installed on the rear
seat of your vehicle without use of the seatbelts. Such child restraint
systems are secured to the dedicated anchorages provided on the
vehicle body.
HB1086BA
Your vehicle is equipped with four lower anchorages (bars) and three upper anchorages (tether anchorages) for accommodating such child
restraint systems.
HB1090BAHB1087BA
The lower anchorages (bars) are used for installing a child restraint
system only on the rear seat window-side seating positions. For each
window-side seating position, two lower anchorages are provided.
The tether anchorages (upper anchorages) are provided for all the
seating positions (middle and both window-side ones) of the rear seat.

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-39
–
CONTINUED –
HB1085BAHB1088BA
You will find marks “Child” at the bottom of the rear seat seatbacks.
These marks indicate the positions of the lower anchorages (bars).
Each lower anchorage is located where the seat cushion meets theseatback.
CAUTION
When you install a child restraint system, follow the manufactur-er ’s instructions supplied with it. After installing the child restraint
system, check to ensure that it is held securely in position. If it is
not held tight and secure, the danger of your child suffering per-
sonal injury in the event of an accident may be increased.
1. Use the “Child” marks to locate the two lower anchorages (bars)
for the position where you want to install the child restraint system.
2. While following the instructions supplied by the child restraint sys-
tem manufacturer, connect the connectors of the child restraint sys-tem to the lower anchorages.
When the connectors are fastened, make sure that the adjacent seat-
belts are not caught.
If your child restraint system is of a flexible attachment type (which
uses tether straps to connect the child restraint system proper to the
lower anchorages), firmly tighten the straps after connecting the con-nectors.
3. Connect the top tether hook to the tether anchorage and firmly
tighten the tether.

1-40
For information on how to set the top tether, read the following “To p
tether anchorages ”.
4. Before seating a child in the child restraint system, try to move seat
back and forth to verify that it is held securely in position.
If you have any question concerning this type of child restraint sys-
tem, ask your SUBARU dealer.
Top tether anchorages Anchorage location
HBS061BB
HB1077BC
Three anchorages, i.e., ones for the right, center and left positions,
are already installed on the rear shelf (on Sedan) or on the rear edge
of the roof (on Staion wagon).

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1-41
–
CONTINUED –
To hook the top tether
n Sedan CAUTION
When the child restraint system is to be secured using the top
tether, always pass the top tether under the headrest between theheadrest stay posts. If the top tether is routed over the headrest,it may not be properly tensioned, resulting in an unsteady childrestraint system.
HBS064BD
HBS063BA
1. Remove the headrest at the seating position where the child seat has been installed with the seatbelt or lower anchorages; lift up the
headrest while pressing the release button.
2. Fasten the top tether hook of the child restraint system to the ap-
propriate upper anchorage.

1-42
HBS065BAHB1064BA
3. Tighten the top tether securely.
4. Reinstall the headrest in such a way that the top tether is routed
between the headrest stay posts. nStation wagon CAUTION
Always remove the headrest when mounting a child restraint sys-
tem with a top tether. Otherwise, it may happen that the top tether
cannot be fastened tightly.
HB1099CB
HB1096BB
1. Remove the headrest (if so equipped) at the seating position
where the child restraint system has been installed with the seatbelt or
lower anchorages; lift up the headrest while pressing the release but-