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Lap Belt
When you sit in the center seating position, you have a
lap safety belt, which has no retractor. To make the
belt longer, tilt the latch plate and pull it along the belt.To make the belt shorter, pull its free end as shown
until the belt is snug.
Buckle, position and release is the same way as the lap
part of a lap-shoulder belt. Make sure the release
button on the buckle is positioned so you would be able
to unbuckle the safety belt quickly if you ever had to.
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Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides for
Children and Small Adults
If you would like to have rear shoulder belt comfort
guides installed on your vehicle, contact your retailer.
Rear shoulder belt comfort guides will provide added
safety belt comfort for older children who have outgrown
booster seats and for small adults. When installed on
a shoulder belt, the comfort guide better positions
the belt away from the neck and head.
There is one guide available for each outside passenger
position in the rear seat. To provide added safety belt
comfort for children who have outgrown child restraints
and booster seats and for smaller adults, the comfort
guides may be installed on the shoulder belts. Here is
how to install a comfort guide and use the safety belt:
1. Pull the elastic cord out from between the edge of
the seatback and the interior body to remove the
guide from its storage clip.
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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 at.
The elastic cord must be under the belt and the
guide on top.4. Buckle, position and release the safety belt as
described inRear Seat Passengers on page 1-25.
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 of the
guides. Pull the guide upward to expose its storage
clip, and then slide the guide onto the clip. Turn
the guide and clip inward and slide them in between the
seatback and the interior body, leaving only the loop
of elastic cord exposed.
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Safety Belt Extender
If the vehicle’s safety belt will fasten around you, you
should use it.
But if a safety belt is not long enough to fasten, your
retailer will order you an extender. When you go
in to order it, take the heaviest coat you will wear, so
the extender will be long enough for you. The extender
will be just for you, and just for the seat in your
vehicle that you choose. Do not let someone else use it,
and use it only for the seat it is made to t. To wear
it, just attach it to the regular safety belt.
Child Restraints
Older Children
Older children who have outgrown booster seats should
wear the vehicle’s safety belts. If you have the choice,
a child should sit next to a window so the child can wear
a lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a
shoulder belt can provide.
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Q:What is the proper way to wear safety belts?
A:If possible, an older child should wear a
lap-shoulder belt and get the additional restraint a
shoulder belt can provide. The shoulder belt
should not cross the face or neck. The lap belt
should t snugly below the hips, just touching the
top of the thighs. It should never be worn over
the abdomen, which could cause severe or even
fatal internal injuries in a crash.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear seat.
In a crash, children who are not buckled up can strike
other people who are buckled up, or can be thrown
out of the vehicle. Older children need to use safety
belts properly.
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{CAUTION:
Never do this.
Here two children are wearing the same belt.
The belt can not properly spread the impact
forces. In a crash, the two children can be
crushed together and seriously injured. A belt
must be used by only one person at a time.
Q:What if a child is wearing a lap-shoulder belt,
but the child is so small that the shoulder belt
is very close to the child’s face or neck?
A:ForSedan Models: If the child is sitting in a seat
next to a window, move the child toward the center
of the vehicle. If the child is sitting in the center
rear seat passenger position, move the child toward
the safety belt buckle. In either case, be sure that
the shoulder belt still is on the child’s shoulder,
so that in a crash the child’s upper body would have
the restraint that belts provide.
ForWagon Models: Move the child toward the
center of the vehicle, but be sure that the shoulder
belt still is on the child’s shoulder, so that in a
crash the child’s upper body would have the
restraint that belts provide. If the child is sitting in a
rear seat outside position, seeRear Safety Belt
Comfort Guides for Children and Small Adults on
page 1-33. If the child is so small that the shoulder
belt is still very close to the child’s face or neck,
you might want to place the child in the center seat
position, the one that has only a lap belt.
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{CAUTION:
Never do this.
Here a child is sitting in a seat that has a
lap-shoulder belt, but the shoulder part is
behind the child. If the child wears the belt in
this way, in a crash the child might slide under
the belt. The belt’s force would then be applied
right on the child’s abdomen. That could cause
serious or fatal injuries.
Wherever the child sits, the lap portion of the belt
should be worn low and snug on the hips, just touching
the child’s thighs. This applies belt force to the child’s
pelvic bones in a crash.
Infants and Young Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection! This includes
infants and all other children. 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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Every time infants and young children ride in vehicles,
they should have the protection provided by appropriate
restraints. Young children should not use the vehicle’s
adult safety belts alone, unless there is no other choice.
Instead, they need to use a child restraint.
{CAUTION:
People should never hold a baby in their arms
while riding in a vehicle. A baby does not
weigh much -- until a crash. During a crash a
baby will become so heavy it is not possible to
hold it. For example, in a crash at only 25 mph
(40 km/h), a 12-lb. (5.5 kg) baby will suddenly
become a 240-lb. (110 kg) force on a person’s
arms. A baby should be secured in an
appropriate restraint.
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