
Child safety 
restraint in place 9 page  64. Install  the 
head  restraint  again  immediately  once  the 
child  seat  is removed.  Driving without  head 
restraints  or with  head  restraints  that  are 
not  properly  adjusted  increases  the risk of 
serious  or  fatal  neck injury dramatically . 
- Always read  and  heed  all WARNINGS when
ever  using  a  child  restrained  in a vehicle  is 
being  used 
9 page  140,  Safety  belts, 
9 page  148,  Airbag system and 
9 page  168, Important  information. 
_& WARNING 
If exceptional  circumstances  require  the  use 
of a forward-facing  child  restraint  on  the 
front  passenger's  seat,  the  child's  safety  and 
well-being  require  that  the  following  special  precautions  be  taken: 
- Make  sure  the  forward-facing  seat  has  been 
designed  and  certified  by its  manufacturer 
for  use  on  a front  seat  with  a  passenger 
front  and  side airbag. 
- Always follow  the  manufacturer's  instruc
tions  provided  with  the  child  safety  seat  or 
infant  carrier. 
- Always move  the  front  passenger  seat  to 
the  highest  position  in the  up  and  down  ad
justment  range  and  move  it back  to  the 
rearmost  position  in the  seat's  fore  and  aft 
adjustment  range,  as  far  away  from  the  air
bag  as  possible,  before  installing the  for
ward-facing  child  restraint. 
- Always make  sure  that  the  safety  belt  upper 
anchorage  is behind  the  child  restraint  and 
not  next  to or  in front  of the  child  restraint 
so that  the  safety  belt  will  be  properly  posi
tioned. 
- Always make  sure  that nothing  prevents  the 
front  passenger's  seat  from  being  moved  to 
the  rearmost  position  in its fore  and  aft  ad
justment  range. 
- Always make  sure  the  backrest  is in an  up
right  position. 
- Make  sure  that  the 
PASSENGER AIR BAG 
OFF 
light  comes  on  and  stays  on  all  the  time 
whenever  the  ignition  is switched  on. 
176 
- If the  light  does  not stay  on,  perform  the 
checks 
¢ page  158,  Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System. 
-T ake  the  child  restraint  off  the  front  passen
ger  seat  and  install  it  properly  at  one  of  the 
rear  seat  positions  if the 
PASSENGER AIR 
BAG OFF 
light  does  not  stay  on whenever 
the  ignition  is switched  on. 
Booster  seats  and safety  belts 
Properly used  booster  seats  can help protect 
children weighing  between  about  40  lbs . and  80 
lbs.  (18 kg and  36  kg) who are less  than  4 ft. 
9 
in . (57 inches/1.45  meters)  tall. 
Fig.  176 Rear  seat:  child  proper ly restrained  in a booster 
seat 
The vehicle's  safety  belts  alone  will  not  fit  most 
children  until  they  are  at  least  4  ft.  9  in. (57  in
ches/1.45  meters)  tall  and  weigh  about  80  lbs. 
(36  kg).  Booster  seats  raise  these  children  up  so 
that  the safety  belt  will  pass  properly  over  the 
stronger  parts  of their  bodies  and  the  safety  belt 
can  help  protect  them  in a  crash. 
.,.  Do not  use the  convertible  locking  retractor 
when  using the  vehicle's  safety  belt  to  restrain 
a child  on  a  booster  seat. 
.,.  The shoulder  belt  must  lie as  close  to  the  cen
ter  of the  child 's  collar  bone  as  possible  and 
must  lie flat  and  snug  on  the  upper  body. 
It 
must  never  lie across  the  throat or  neck.  The 
lap  belt  must  lie across  the  pelvis  and  never 
across  the  stomach  or abdomen . Make  sure  the 
belt  lies flat  and  snug . Pull  on  the  belt  to  tight
en  if necessary. 
.,.  If you  must  transport  an  older  child  in a  boos-
ter  seat  on  the  front  passenger  seat,  you  can 
Ill>- 

use  the  safety  belt  height  adjustment  to  help 
adjust  the  shoulder  portion  properly. 
~ Secure  unused  safety  belts  on  the  rear  seat 
¢ page 173. 
Children  up  to  at  least  8 years  old  (over  40  lbs.  or 
18  kg)  are  best  protect ed  in child  safety  s eats  de
signed  for  their  age  and  weight.  Experts  say  that 
the  skeletal  structure,  particularly  the  pelvis,  of 
these  children  is  not  fully  developed,  and  they 
must  not  use  the  vehicle  safety  belts  without  a 
suitable  child  restra int . 
It  is usually  best  to  put  these  children  in appro priate  booster  seats . Be sure  the  booster  seat 
meets  all  applicable  safety  standards . 
Booster  seats  raise  the  seating  position  of the 
child  and  reposition  both  the  lap  and  shoulder 
parts  of the  safety  belt  so  that  they  pass  across 
the  child's  body  in the  right  places.  The  rout ing  of 
the  belt  over  the  child's  body  is very  important 
for  the  child's  protection,  whether  or  not  a  boos
ter  seat  is used.  Chi ld ren  age  12  and  unde r must 
a lways  ride  in the  rear  seat . 
Ch ildren  who  are  at  least  4  ft . 9  in.  (57  inches/ 
1.45  mete rs)  tall  ca n genera lly use  the  veh icle's 
three  po int  lap  and  shoulder  be lts.  Neve r use  the 
l ap  belt  po rtion  of the  vehicle 's  safety  belt  alone 
to  restrain  any  child,  regardless  of  how  big  the 
chi ld  is.  A lways  remember  that  children  do  not 
have  the  pronounced  pelvic  structure  required  for 
the  proper  function  of  lap  belt  port ion  of the  ve
h icle 's three  point  lap  and  shoulder  be lt s. The 
chi ld 's safety  absolutely  requires  that  a  lap  belt 
port ion  of the  safety  belt  be  fastened  snugly  and 
as  low as  possible  around  the  pelvis . Never  let 
the  lap  belt  portion  of the  safety  belt  pass  over 
the  child's  stomach  or  abdomen. 
In  a crash,  a irbags  must  inflate  within  a  blink  of 
an  eye  and  wit h considerable  force . In  order  to  do 
its job,  the  airbag  needs  room  to  inflate  so  that  it 
will be  there  to  p rotect  the  occupant  as  the  occu
pant  moves  forward  into  the  a irbag. 
A vehicle  occupant  who  is  out  of  position  and  too 
~ close  to  the  airbag  gets  in the  way  of  an  inflating .... 
~ ai rbag.  When  an  occ upant  is  too  close,  he  o r she 
N 8 will be  struck  v iolently  and  will  receive  ser ious  or 
~ possibly  even  fatal  injury. 00 
Ch ild  safety 
In  order  for  the  a irbag  to  offer  protection,  it  is 
important  that  a ll vehicle  occupants,  especially 
any  ch ildren,  who  m ust  be  in the  front  seat  be
cause  of  exceptiona l circumstances,  be  properly 
restra ined  and  as  far  away  from  the  airbag  as 
poss ible.  By keeping  room  between  the  child 's 
body  and  the  front  of the  passenger  compart
ment,  the  a irbag  can  inflate  completely  and  pro
vide  s upplementa l protec tion  in certain  frontal 
collisions. 
A WARNING 
-
Not  using  a  booster  seat,  using  the  booster 
seat  improperly,  incorrect ly installing  a  boos 
ter  seat  or  using  the  vehicle  safety  belt  im
properly  increases  the  risk  of serious  personal 
i njury  and  death  in  a collision  or  other  emer
gency  situation.  To help  reduce  the  risk of se rious  personal  injury  and/or  death: 
- The shou lder  belt  must  lie as  close  to  the 
center  of the  ch ild's  collar  bone  as  possible 
and  must  lie flat  and  snug  on  the  upper 
body.  It  must  never  lie  across  the  throat  or 
neck.  The  lap  belt  must  lie ac ross  the  pelvis 
and  never  across  the  stomach  o r abdomen. 
Make sure  the  bel t  lies flat  and  sn ug.  Pu ll on 
the  belt  to  tighten  if necessary. 
- Fail ure to  properly  route  safety  bel ts over  a 
child's  body  w ill cause  severe  injuries  in an 
accident  or other  emergency  situation 
¢ page 140. 
- The  rear  side  of the  chi ld  safety  seat  should 
be  positioned  as  close  as  possible  to  the 
backrest  on  the  vehicle  seat.  Adjust  or  re 
move  the  rear  seat  head  restraint  if it  is dif
f icult  to  insta ll the  ch ild  seat  with  the  head 
restraint  in  place¢ 
page 64 . Install  the 
head  restraint  again  immed iately  once  the 
child  seat  is removed . Driving without  head 
rest raints  or  with  head  restra ints  that  a re 
not  properly  adj usted  increases  the  r is k  of 
serio us  or fatal  ne ck in jury dramatically . 
- Never  let  a  chi ld  put  the  shoulder  belt  under 
the  arm  or  behind  the  ba ck, because  i t could 
cause  severe  inj uries  in a  crash . 
- Ch ild ren  on  the  fron t seat  of  any car,  even 
with  Advanced  Airbags,  can  be  seriously  in-
jured  or  even  ki lled  when  an  airbag  inflates . 
Ill> 
177  

Child safety 
The illustration  shows  the  seating  locations in 
your  vehicle  which  are  equipped with  the  lower 
anchorages  system. 
Description 
The lower  anchorage  positions  ore marked  for 
quick locating. 
F ig.  178 Lower  anchorages,  covers  marked 
Fig.  179 Rear  seats:  lower anchorage  bracke t locations 
Lower anchorages 
The  lower  anchorage  attachment  points  are  lo
cated  between  the  rear  seatback  and  rear  seat 
cushion. 
Remove  the covers 
Q fig.  178 to  access  the lower 
anchorage  attachment  points. 
The  lower  anchorage  attachment  points  are visi
ble 
~fig.  179. 
Lower  ancho rages  secure  the child  restraint  in 
the  seat  without  using  the  vehicle's  safety  belts. 
Anchorages  provide  a  secure  and  easy-to-use  at
tachment  and  minim ize  the  possibility  of  improp
er  child  restraint  installation. 
All child  restraints  manufactured  after  Septem
ber  1,  2002,  must  have  lower  anchorage  attach
ments  for  the 
LATCH system. 
182 
Remember  that  the  lower  anchorage  points  are 
on ly  inten ded for  insta llation  and  attachment  of 
ch ild  restraints  specifically  certif ied  for  use  with 
LATCH lower  anchorages.  Child restra ints  that 
are  not  equipped  with  the  lower  anchorage  at
tachments  can  still  be  installed  in compliance 
with  the  ch ild  restraint  manufacturer 's in struc
tions  on  using vehicle  safety  be lts . 
.&_ WARNING 
Im proper  use  of  LATCH lower  anchorages  can 
cause  serious  personal  injury  in an  accident. 
- Always  carefully  follow  the child  restraints 
manufacturer's  instructions  for  proper  in
stallat ion of the  chi ld  restraint  and  proper 
use  of the  lower  anchorages  or safety  belts 
in your  vehicle. 
- Never  secure  or attach  any  luggage  or other 
items  to  the 
LATCH lower  anchorages . 
- Always read  and heed  the  important  infor
mation  about child  restraints  in this  chapter 
and  WARNINGS 
Qpage  168,  Child safety. 
Installing  a child  restraint with  LATCH 
lower  anchorages 
When ever you  install  a child  restraint  always  fol
low  the  child  restraint  manufacturer's  instruc
tions. 
Fig.  180 Lower anchorages:  proper  mount ing 
Mounting 
.,.  Make sure  the  seatback  of the  rear seat  bench 
is  in the  upright  position  and securely latched 
in  place  . 
.,.  Attach  both hook-on  connectors  wit h  the  spring 
catch  release  on the  child  safety  seat  onto  the  ..,.