2015 FORD TRANSIT Owners Manual

Recommendations for Safety Restraints for Children
Recommended restraint
type
Child size, height, weight, or age
Child
Use a child safety seat(sometimes called an
infant carrier, convertible seat, or toddler seat).
Children weighing 40 lb (18 kg) or less
(generally age four or younger).
Infants or
toddlers
Use a belt-positioningbooster seat.
Children who have outgrown or no longer
properly fit in a child safety seat (gener-ally children who are less than 4 ft. 9 in. (1.45 m) tall, are greater than age four
and less than age 12, and between 40 lb
(18 kg) and 80 lb (36 kg) and upward to 100 lb (45 kg) if recommended by your child restraint manufacturer).
Small children
Use a vehicle safety belthaving the lap belt snug
and low across the hips, shoulder belt centered
across the shoulder and chest, and seat back upright.
Children who have outgrown or no longer
properly fit in a belt-positioning booster
seat (generally children who are at least
4 ft. 9 in. (1.45 m) tall or greater than 80 lb (36 kg) or 100 lb (45 kg) if recom-
mended by child restraint manufacturer).
Larger children
• You are required by law to properly use
safety seats for infants and toddlers in
the United States and Canada.
• Many states and provinces require that
small children use approved booster
seats until they reach age eight, a
height of 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 meters)
tall, or 80 pounds (36 kilograms).
Check your local and state or provincial
laws for specific requirements about
the safety of children in your vehicle.
• When possible, always properly
restrain children 12 years of age and
under in a rear seating position of your
vehicle. Accident statistics suggest that
children are safer when properly
restrained in the rear seating positions
than in a front seating position. INSTALLING CHILD SEATS
Child Seats
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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
WARNINGS
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 upon which
the child seat is installed all the way back. Airbags can kill or injure a child in a
child seat. Children 12 and under
should be correctly restrained in the
rear seat whenever possible. 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 and 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 correctly restrained. When installing a child safety seat with
combination lap and shoulder belts:
•
Use the correct safety belt buckle for
that seating position.
• Insert the belt tongue into the correct
buckle until you hear a distinct click
and feel it latch. Make sure the tongue
is securely fastened in the buckle.
• Keep the buckle release button
pointing up and away from the safety
seat, with the tongue between the child
seat and the release button, to prevent
accidental unbuckling. •
Place the vehicle seat upon which the
child seat will be installed in the upright
position.
• Put the safety belt in the automatic
locking mode. See Step 5. Your vehicle
does not require the use of a locking
clip.
Perform the following steps when
installing the child seat with combination
lap and shoulder belts:
Note: Although the child seat illustrated is
a forward facing child seat, the steps are
the same for installing a rear facing child
seat. 1. Position the child safety seat in a seat
with a combination lap and shoulder
belt. 2. Pull down on the shoulder belt and
then grasp the shoulder belt and lap
belt together.
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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 correct
buckle (the buckle closest to the
direction the tongue is coming from)
for that seating position until you hear
a distinct click 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.
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. 16
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8.
Remove remaining slack from the belt.
Force the seat down with extra weight,
for example, by pressing down or
kneeling on the child restraint while
pulling up on the shoulder belt in order
to force slack from the belt. This is
necessary to remove the remaining
slack that will exist once the extra
weight of the child is added to the child
restraint. It also helps to achieve the
correct snugness of the child seat to
your vehicle. Sometimes, a slight lean
toward the buckle will additionally help
to remove remaining slack from the
belt.
9. Attach the tether strap (if the child seat
is equipped). 10. Before placing the child in the seat,
forcibly move the seat forward and
back to make sure the seat is securely
held in place. To check this, grab the
seat at the belt path and attempt to
move it side to side and forward and
back. There should be no more than
1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of movement
for correct installation.
Ford recommends checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety
Technician to make certain the child
restraint is correctly installed. In Canada,
check with your local St. John Ambulance
office for referral to a Certified Passenger
Seat Technician. Using Lower Anchors and Tethers
for Children (LATCH) WARNINGS
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. 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 correctly 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 correct top tether
anchor, if a top tether strap has been
provided with your child seat.
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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 above the symbols
as shown. Follow the child seat
manufacturer's instructions to correctly
install a child seat with LATCH
attachments. Follow the instructions on
attaching child safety seats with tether
straps.
Attach LATCH lower attachments of the
child seat only to the anchors shown.
Use of Inboard Lower Anchors from the
Outboard Seating Positions (Center
Seating Use)
WARNING
The standardized spacing for LATCH
lower anchors is 11 inches (28
centimeters) center to center. Do not
use LATCH lower anchors for the center
seating position unless the child seat
manufacturer's instructions permit and
specify using anchors spaced at least as
far apart as those in your vehicle. Do not attach a child seat to any lower
anchor if an adjacent child seat is attached
to that anchor.
Each time you use the safety seat, check
that the seat is correctly attached to the
lower anchors and tether anchor, if
applicable. Tug the child seat from side to
side and forward and back where it is
secured to your vehicle. The seat should
move less than one inch when you do this
for a correct installation.
If the safety seat is not anchored correctly,
the risk of a child being injured in a crash
greatly increases. 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 correct
installation is achieved. Attach the tether
strap afterward, if included with the child
seat.
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): 19
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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.
Front Passenger Seating Position
1. Adjust the front passenger seat fully forward.
2. Route the child safety seat tether strap
over the back of the seat, under the
head restraint and between the head
restraint posts.
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3. Locate the correct anchor on the back
panel of the rear seat for the selected
seating position. The anchors are
labeled with the tether strap symbol
and are partially covered by the gap
panel. Pull the panel back to fully
expose the anchors. 4. Clip the tether strap to the anchor as
shown.
5. Adjust the front passenger seat full rearward.
6. Tighten the child safety seat tether strap according to the manufacturer's
instructions. If your child restraint
system is equipped with a tether strap,
and the child restraint manufacturer
recommends its use, Ford also
recommends its use.
Rear Seats
1. Route the child safety seat tether strap
over the back of the seat, under the
head restraint and between the head
restraint posts. 21
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