Childsafety
>Guidethesafetybeltallthewaybackintoits
stowedposition.
Alwaysletthesafetybeltretractcompletelyinto
itsstowedposition.Thesafetybeltcannowbe
usedasanordinarysafetybeltwithoutthecon-
vertiblelockingretractorforchildrestraints.
Iftheconvertiblelockingretractorshould beac-
tivated inadvertently,thesafetybeltmustbeun-
fastenedandguidedcompletelybackintoits
stowedpositiontodeactivatethisfeature.Ifthe
convertiblelockingretractorisnotdeactivated,
thesafetybeltwillgraduallybecometighterand
uncomfortabletowear.
ZAWARNING
Improperlyinstalledchildsafetyseatsin-
creasetheriskofseriouspersonalinjuryand
deathinacollision.
—Neverunfastenthesafetybelttodeactivate
theconvertiblelockingretractorforchildre-
straintswhilethevehicleismoving.You
wouldnotberestrained andcouldbeseri-
ouslyinjuredinanaccident.
—AlwaysreadandheedallWARNINGSwhen-
everusingachildrestrainedinavehicleis
beingused>page212.Specialprecautions
applywheninstallinga childsafetyseaton
thefrontpassengerseat>page189,Child
restraintsonthefrontseat-someimpor-
tantthingstoknow.
LATCHsystem(Lower
anchoragesandtethers
forchildren)
eRealasleeTiemae
EMACERTCRT11a]
Toprovideasimplerandmorepracticablewayto
attachthechildrestraintonthevehicleseat,Fed-
eralregulationsrequire specialloweranchorages
invehiclesanddevicesonnewchildrestraintsto
attachtothevehicleanchorages.
IntheUnitedStates,thecombinationofthe
tetheranchoragesandtheloweranchoragesis
nowgenerallycalledtheLATCHsystemfor
“LowerAnchoragesandTethersforChildren”.In
226
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.
ZA\WARNING
Improperinstallationofchildrestraintswill
increasetheriskofinjuryanddeathinacrash.
—Alwaysfollowtheinstructionsprovidedby
the
manufacturerofthechildrestraintyou
intendtoinstallinyourvehicle.
—Neverinstalla childrestraintwithouta
properlyattachedtoptetherstrapifthe
childrestraintmanufacturer'sinstructions
requirethetoptetherstraptobeused.
—ImproperuseofchildrestraintLATCHlower
anchoragepointscanlead toinjuryinacolli-
sion.TheLATCHloweranchoragepointsare
designedtowithstandonlythoseloadsim-
posedbycorrectlyfitted childrestraints.
—Nevermounttwochildrestraintsystemson
oneLATCHloweranchoragepoint.
—Neversecureorattachanyluggageorother
itemtotheLATCHloweranchorages.
