2020 LINCOLN MKZ Owners Manual

Recommendations for Safety Restraints for Children
Recommended Restraint Type
Child Size, Height, Weight, or Age
Child
Use a child restraint (sometimes called aninfant 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-positioning booster seat.
Children who have outgrown or no longer properly fit in a child
restraint (generally children who are less than
57 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 recom-
mended by your child restraint manufacturer).
Small children
Use a vehicle seatbelt having the lap belt
snug and low across the hips, shoulder belt
centered across the shoulder and chest, and seat backrest upright.
Children who have outgrown or no longer properly fit in a belt-
positioning booster seat (generally children who are at least 57 in (1.45 m)
tall or greater than 80 lb (36 kg) or 100 lb (45 kg) if
recommended by child restraint manufacturer).
Larger children
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•
You are required by law to properly use
child restraints 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 57 in (1.45 m) tall, or 80 lb (36 kg).
Check your local and state or provincial
laws for specific requirements about the
safety of children in your vehicle.
• When possible, 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.
See Front Passenger Sensing
System (page 48).
• When installing a rear facing child
restraint, adjust the vehicle seats to avoid
interference between the child restraint
and the vehicle seat in front of the child
restraint. INSTALLING CHILD RESTRAINTS
Child Seats
Use a child restraint (sometimes called an
infant carrier, convertible seat, or toddler
seat) for infants, toddlers, or children
weighing
40 lb (18 kg) or less (generally age
four or younger). Using Lap and Shoulder Belts WARNING:
Do not place a rearward
facing child restraint in front of an active
airbag. Failure to follow this instruction
could result in personal injury or death. WARNING:
Properly secure children
12 years old and under in a rear seating
position whenever possible. If you are
unable to properly secure all children in a
rear seating position, properly secure the
largest child on the front seat. If you must
use a forward facing child restraint on the
front seat, move the seat as far back as
possible. Failure to follow these
instructions could result in personal injury
or death.
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WARNING: Depending on where you
secure a child restraint, and depending on
the child restraint design, you may block
access to certain seatbelt buckle
assemblies and LATCH lower anchors,
rendering those features potentially
unusable. To avoid risk of injury, make sure
occupants only use seating positions
where they are able to be properly
restrained.
When installing a child restraint with
combination lap and shoulder belts:
• Use the correct seatbelt buckle for that
seating position.
• Insert the belt tongue into the proper
buckle until you hear a snap and feel it
latch. Make sure that you securely fasten
the tongue in the buckle.
• Keep the buckle release button pointing
up and away from the child restraint, with
the tongue between the child restraint
and the release button, to prevent
accidental unbuckling. •
Place the vehicle seat in the upright
position before you install the child
restraint.
• Put the seatbelt in the automatic locking
mode. See Step 5. This vehicle does not
require the use of a locking clip.
Perform the following steps when installing
the child restraint with combination lap and
shoulder belts:
Note: Although the child restraint illustrated
is a forward facing child restraint, the steps
are the same for installing a rear facing child
restraint. 1. Position the child restraint 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 restraint according to
the child restraint manufacturer's
instructions. Make sure that you did not
twist the belt webbing. 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 that you
securely latched the tongue 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 you
pull all of the belt 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 clicks as it retracts to indicate it
is in the automatic locking mode.
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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. 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 exists once you add the extra weight of the child to the child restraint. It also
helps to achieve the proper snugness of
the child restraint to your vehicle.
Sometimes, a slight lean toward the
buckle will additionally help to remove
remaining slack from the belt.
9. If the child restraint has a tether strap, attach it. 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 in
(2.5 cm) of movement for proper
installation.
We recommend checking with a NHTSA
Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician
to make certain the child restraint is properly
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) WARNING:
Do not attach two child
safety restraints to the same anchor. In a
crash, one anchor may not be strong
enough to hold two child safety restraint
attachments and may break, causing
serious injury or death.
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WARNING: Depending on where you
secure a child restraint, and depending on
the child restraint design, you may block
access to certain seatbelt buckle
assemblies and LATCH lower anchors,
rendering those features potentially
unusable. To avoid risk of injury, make sure
occupants only use seating positions
where they are able to be properly
restrained.
The LATCH system has three vehicle anchor
points: two lower anchors where the seat
backrest and seat cushion meet (called the
seat bight) and one top tether anchor behind
that seating position.
LATCH compatible child restraints 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 seatbelts to attach the child restraint. However, you can still use
the seatbelt to attach the child restraint. For
forward-facing child restraints, you must
attach the top tether strap to the proper top
tether anchor, if a top tether strap has been
provided with your child restraint.
Your vehicle has LATCH lower anchors for
child restraint installation at the seating
positions marked with the child restraint
symbol. The LATCH anchors are at the rear section
of the rear seat between the cushion and
seat backrest below the symbols as shown.
Follow the child restraint manufacturer's
instructions to properly install a child restraint
with LATCH attachments. Follow the
instructions on attaching child restraints with
tether straps.
Attach LATCH lower attachments of the child
restraint only to the anchors shown.
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Use of Inboard Lower Anchors from the
Outermost Seating Positions (Center
Seating Use)
WARNING: The standardized spacing
for LATCH lower anchors is 11 in (280 mm)
center to center. Do not use LATCH lower
anchors for the center seating position
unless the child restraint manufacturer's
instructions permit and specify using
anchors spaced at least as far apart as
those in this vehicle.
The lower anchors at the center of the
second row rear seat are spaced
18 in
(46 cm) apart. You cannot install a child
restraint with rigid LATCH attachments at the
center seating position. LATCH compatible
child restraints (with attachments on belt
webbing) can only be used at this seating
position provided that the child restraint
manufacturer's instructions permit use with
the anchor spacing stated. Do not attach a
child restraint to any lower anchor if an
adjacent child restraint is attached to that
anchor. Each time you use the child restraint, check
that the seat is properly attached to the lower
anchors and tether anchor, if applicable. Tug
the child restraint from side to side and
forward and back where it is secured to your
vehicle. The seat should move less than 1 in
(2.5 cm)
when you do this for a proper
installation.
If the child restraint is not anchored properly,
the risk of a child being injured in a crash
greatly increases.
Combining Seatbelt and LATCH Lower
Anchors for Attaching Child Restraints
When used in combination, either the
seatbelt 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
restraint. Using Tether Straps Many forward-facing child
restraints include a tether strap
which extends from the back of the
child restraint and hooks to an anchoring
point called the top tether anchor. Tether
straps are available as an accessory for many
older child restraints.
Contact the manufacturer of your child
restraint for information about ordering a
tether strap, or to obtain a longer tether strap
if the tether strap on your child restraint does
not reach the appropriate top tether anchor
in your vehicle.
Once you install the child restraint using
either the seatbelt, 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):
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Perform the following steps to install a child
restraint with tether anchors:
Note:
If you install a child restraint with rigid
LATCH attachments, do not tighten the
tether strap enough to lift the child restraint
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 restraint.
Keeping the child restraint just touching your
vehicle seat gives the best protection in a
severe crash. 1.
Route the child restraint tether strap over
the back of the seat. For the outermost
seating positions, route the tether strap
under the head restraint and between
the head restraint posts. For the center
seating position, route the tether strap
over the top of the head restraint. If
needed, you can also remove the head
restraints. 2. Locate the correct anchor for the
selected seating position, then open the
tether anchor cover. 3. Clip the tether strap to the anchor as
shown.
4. Tighten the child restraint tether strap according to the manufacturer's
instructions. If your child restraint system
has a tether strap, and the child restraint
manufacturer recommends its use, we
also recommend its use.
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