Types of Booster Seats
•Backless booster seats
If your backless booster seat has a removable shield, remove the shield.
If a vehicle seating position has a low seat back or no head restraint, a
backless booster seat may place your child’s head (as measured at the
tops of the ears) above the top of the seat. In this case, move the
backless booster to another seating position with a higher seat back or
head restraint and lap and shoulder belts, or consider using a high back
booster seat.
•High back booster seats
If, with a backless booster seat, you cannot find a seating position that
adequately supports your child’s head, a high back booster seat would be
a better choice.
Children and booster seats vary in size and shape. Choose a booster that
keeps the lap belt low and snug across the hips, never up across the
stomach, and lets you adjust the shoulder belt to cross the chest and
rest snugly near the center of the shoulder. The following drawings
compare the ideal fit (center) to a shoulder belt uncomfortably close to
the neck and a shoulder belt that could slip off the shoulder. The
drawings also show how the lap belt should be low and snug across the
child’s hips.
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INSTALLING CHILD SEATS
Child Seats
Use a child safety seat (sometimes
called an infant carrier, convertible
seat, or toddler seat) for infants,
toddlers or children weighing
40 pounds (18 kilograms) or less
(generally age four or younger).
Using Lap and Shoulder Belts
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
Never place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active airbag.
If you must use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the
seat all the way back.
WARNING:Airbags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.
Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in the rear
seat whenever possible.
WARNING:Depending on where you secure a child restraint,
and depending on the child restraint design, you may block
access to certain safety belt buckle assemblies or LATCH lower
anchors, rendering those features potentially unusable. To avoid risk of
injury, occupants should only use seating positions where they are able
to be properly restrained.
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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.
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
pulled out.
Note:The automatic locking mode is available on the front passenger
and rear seats. This vehicle does not require the use of a locking clip.
6. Allow the belt to retract to remove slack. The belt will click as it
retracts to indicate it is in the automatic locking mode.
7. 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 5
and 6.
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2014 MKS(mks)
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USA(fus)
Using Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren (LATCH)
WARNING:Never attach two child safety seats to the same
anchor. In a crash, one anchor may not be strong enough to hold
two child safety seat attachments and may break, causing serious injury
or death.
WARNING:Depending on where you secure a child restraint,
and depending on the child restraint design, you may block
access to certain safety belt buckle assemblies or LATCH lower
anchors, rendering those features potentially unusable. To avoid risk of
injury, occupants should only use seating positions where they are able
to be properly restrained.
The LATCH system is composed of three vehicle anchor points: two
lower anchors located where seat back and seat cushion meet (called the
seat bight) and one top tether anchor located behind that seating
position.
LATCH compatible child safety seats have two rigid or webbing mounted
attachments that connect to the two lower anchors at the LATCH
equipped seating positions in your vehicle. This type of attachment
method eliminates the need to use safety belts to attach the child seat,
however the safety belt can still be used to attach the child seat. For
forward-facing child seats, the top tether strap must also be attached to
the proper top tether anchor, if a top tether strap has been provided
with your child seat.
Your vehicle has LATCH lower
anchors for child seat installation at
the seating positions marked with
the child seat symbol.
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The LATCH anchors are located at
the rear section of the rear seat
between the cushion and seat back
below the symbols as shown. Follow
the child seat manufacturer’s
instructions to properly install a
child seat with LATCH attachments.
Follow the instructions on attaching child safety seats with tether straps.
SeeUsing Tether Strapslater in this chapter.
Attach LATCH lower attachments of the child seat only to the anchors
shown.
Child seat positioning for LATCH lower anchors
All the LATCH lower anchors are equally spaced, 11 inches
(28 centimeters) apart, allowing for the following child seat positioning:
•If a single child seat is installed using the LATCH lower anchors, it can
be installed at any rear seating position.
•If two child safety seats are installed using the LATCH lower anchors,
they must be placed in the outboard seating positions only.
•If three child safety seats are installed, you can install two using the
LATCH lower anchors by placing them in each outboard seating
position and the third in the center using the lap and shoulder belt,
OR you can use the LATCH lower anchors for the center child safety
seat and the lap and shoulder belts for the other two child safety seats
in the outboard positions. Use the tether anchors if applicable.
Combining Safety Belt and LATCH Lower Anchors for Attaching
Child Safety Seats
When used in combination, either the safety belt or the LATCH lower
anchors may be attached first, provided a proper installation is achieved.
Attach the tether strap afterward, if included with the child seat.
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Using Tether Straps
Many forward-facing child safety seats include a tether strap
which extends from the back of the child safety seat and hooks
to an anchoring point called the top tether anchor. Tether
straps are available as an accessory for many older safety seats.
Contact the manufacturer of your child seat for information about
ordering a tether strap, or to obtain a longer tether strap if the tether
strap on your safety seat does not reach the appropriate top tether
anchor in your vehicle.
Once the child safety seat has been installed using either the safety belt,
the lower anchors of the LATCH system, or both, you can attach the top
tether strap.
The tether strap anchors in your vehicle are in the following positions
(shown from top view):
Perform the following steps to install a child safety seat with tether
anchors:
Note:If you install a child seat with rigid LATCH attachments, do not
tighten the tether strap enough to lift the child seat off your vehicle seat
cushion when the child is seated in it. Keep the tether strap just snug
without lifting the front of the child seat. Keeping the child seat just
touching your vehicle seat gives the best protection in a severe crash.
1. Route the tether strap over the top of the head restraint.
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USA(fus)
PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
WARNING:Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap
while your vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the
child from injury in a crash.
WARNING:It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area,
inside or outside of a vehicle. In a crash, people riding in these
areas are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow
people to ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with
seats and safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and
using a safety belt properly.
WARNING:Always drive and ride with your seat back upright
and the lap belt snug and low across the hips.
WARNING:To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit
where they can be properly restrained.
WARNING:All occupants of your vehicle, including the driver,
should always properly wear their safety belts, even when an
airbag supplemental restraint system is provided. Failure to properly
wear your safety belt could seriously increase the risk of injury or
death.
WARNING:In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is
significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a safety
belt.
WARNING:Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific
safety belt assembly which is made up of one buckle and one
tongue that are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt
on the outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the
arm. 2) Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside
shoulder. 3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.
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WARNING:When possible, all children 12 years old and under
should be properly restrained in a rear seating position. Failure
to follow this could seriously increase the risk of injury or death.
WARNING:Safety belts and seats can become hot in a vehicle
that has been closed up in sunny weather; they could burn a
small child. Check seat covers and buckles before you place a child
anywhere near them.
WARNING:Front and rear seat occupants, including pregnant
women, should wear safety belts for optimum protection in an
accident.
All seating positions in your vehicle have lap and shoulder safety belts.
All occupants of the vehicle should always properly wear their safety
belts, even when an airbag supplemental restraint system is provided.
The safety belt system consists of:
•lap and shoulder safety belts
•shoulder safety belt with automatic locking mode (except driver safety
belt)
•height adjuster at the front outboard seating positions
•safety belt pretensioner at the front outboard seating positions
•belt tension sensor at the front outboard passenger seating position.
•safety belt warning light and chime. SeeSafety belt warning
light and indicator chimelater in this chapter.
•crash sensors and monitoring system with readiness
indicator. SeeCrash sensors and airbag indicatorin the
Supplemental Restraint Systemchapter.
The safety belt pretensioners are designed to activate in frontal,
near-frontal and side crashes, and in rollovers. The safety belt
pretensioners at the front seating positions are designed to tighten the
safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body when activated. This helps
increase the effectiveness of the safety belts. In frontal crashes, the
safety belt pretensioners can be activated alone or, if the crash is of
sufficient severity, together with the front airbags.
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2014 MKS(mks)
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USA(fus)