Childsafety
Deactivatingtheconvertiblelocking
retractor
Theconvertiblelockingretractorforchildre-
straintswillbedeactivatedautomaticallywhen
thebeltiswoundallthewaybackintothere-
tractor.
>Presstheredbuttononthesafetybeltbuckle.
Thebelttonguewillpopoutofthebuckle.
>Guidethesafetybeltallthewaybackintoits
stowedposition.
Alwaysletthesafetybeltretractcompletelyinto
itsstowedposition.Thesafetybeltcannowbe
usedasanordinarysafetybeltwithoutthecon-
vertiblelockingretractorforchildrestraints.
Iftheconvertiblelockingretractorshould beac-
tivated inadvertently,thesafetybeltmustbeun-
fastenedandguidedcompletelybackintoits
stowedpositiontodeactivatethisfeature.Ifthe
convertiblelockingretractorisnotdeactivated,
thesafetybeltwillgraduallybecometighterand
uncomfortabletowear.
Z\WARNING
Improperlyinstalledchildsafetyseatsin-
creasetheriskofseriouspersonalinjuryand
deathinacollision.
—Neverunfastenthesafetybelttodeactivate
theconvertiblelockingretractorforchildre-
straintswhilethevehicleismoving.You
wouldnot berestrainedandcouldbeseri-
ouslyinjuredinanaccident.
—AlwaysreadandheedallWARNINGSwhen-
everusingachildrestrainedinavehicleis
beingused=page290.Specialprecautions
applywheninstallinga childsafetyseaton
thefrontpassengerseat>page269,Child
restraintsonthefrontseat-someimpor-
tantthingstoknow.
304
LATCHsystem(Lower
anchoragesandtethers
forchildren)
ChildRestraintSystemanchorsandhow
aretheyrelatedtochildsafety
Toprovideasimplerandmorepracticablewayto
attachthechildrestraintonthevehicleseat,Fed-
eralregulationsrequire specialloweranchorages
invehiclesanddevicesonnewchildrestraintsto
attachtothevehicleanchorages.
Inthe UnitedStates,thecombinationofthe
tetheranchoragesandtheloweranchoragesis
nowgenerallycalledtheLATCHsystemfor
“LowerAnchoragesandTethersforChildren”.In
Canada,theterms“toptether”with“loweruni-
versalanchorages”(or“Loweruniversalanchor-
agebars”)areusedtodescribethesystem.
Inothercountriestheterm“ISOFIX”isusedto
describetheloweranchorages.
Forward-facingchildrestraintsmanufacturedaf-
terSeptember1,1999,arerequiredbyU.S.fed-
eralregulationstocomplywithnewchildhead
movementperformancerequirements.These
newperformancerequirementsmakeatether
necessaryonmostnewchildseats.
Installingachildrestraintthatrequiresatop
tetherwithoutonecanseriouslyimpairtheper-
formanceofthechildrestraintanditsabilityto
protectthechildinacollision.Installinga child
restraintthatrequiresatoptetherwithoutthe
toptethermaybeaviolationof statelaw.
ChildrestraintmanufacturersofferLATCHlower
anchoragesontheirchildseatswithhook-onor
push-onconnectorsattachedtoadjustable
straps.
InadditiontotheLATCHlower anchorages, these
childrestraintsystemsusually requiretheuseof
tetherstrapstohelpkeepthechildrestraint
firmlyinplace.
ZAWARNING
Improperinstallationofchildrestraintswill
increasetheriskofinjuryanddeathinacrash.|>
