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80 Seats and Restraints
the vehicle. Older children
need to use seat belts
properly.
{Warning
Never allow more than one
child to wear the same seat
belt. The seat belt cannot
properly spread the impact
forces. In a crash, they can
be crushed together and
seriously injured. A seat belt
must be used by only one
person at a time.
{Warning
Never allow a child to wear
the seat belt shoulder belt
under both arms or behind
their back. A child can be
seriously injured by not
wearing the lap-shoulder
belt properly. In a crash, the
child would not be
restrained by the shoulder
belt. The child could move
too far forward increasing
the chance of head and neck
injury. The child might also
slide under the lap belt. The
belt force would then be
applied right on the
abdomen. That could cause
serious or fatal injuries. The
shoulder belt should go over
the shoulder and across the
chest.
Infants and Young
Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs
protection! This includes
infants and all other children.
Neither the distance traveled
nor the age and size of the
traveler changes the need, for
everyone, to use safety
restraints. In fact, the law in
every state in the United
States and in every Canadian
province says children up to
some age must be restrained
while in a vehicle.
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{Warning
Children can be seriously
injured or killed if the
shoulder belt is worn behind
their back, under their legs,
or wrapped around their
neck. The shoulder belt can
tighten but cannot be
loosened if it is locked. The
shoulder belt locks when it is
pulled all the way out of the
retractor. It unlocks when
the shoulder belt is allowed
to go all the way back into
the retractor, but it cannot
do this if it is wrapped
around the child. Never
leave children unattended in
a vehicle and never allow
children to improperly wear,
or play with, the seat belts.
Every time infants and young
children ride in vehicles, they
should have the protection
provided by appropriate child
restraints. Neither the vehicle's seat belt system nor
its airbag system is designed
for them.
Children who are not
restrained properly can strike
other people, or can be
thrown out of the vehicle.
{Warning
Never hold an infant or a
child while riding in a vehicle.
Due to crash forces, an
infant or a child will become
so heavy it is not possible to
hold it during a crash. For
example, in a crash at only
40 km/h (25 mph), a
5.5 kg (12 lb) infant will
suddenly become a
110 kg (240 lb) force on a
person's arms. An infant or
child should be secured in an
appropriate child restraint.
{Warning
Children who are up against,
or very close to, any airbag
when it inflates can be
seriously injured or killed.
Never put a rear-facing child
restraint in the front
outboard seat. Secure a
rear-facing child restraint in
a rear seat. It is also better
to secure a forward-facing
child restraint in a rear seat.
If you must secure a
forward-facing child
restraint in the front
(Continued)
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Warning (Continued)
outboard seat, always move
the front passenger seat as
far back as it will go.
Child restraints are devices
used to restrain, seat,
or position children in the
vehicle and are sometimes
called child seats or car seats.
There are three basic types
of child restraints:
.Forward-facing child
restraints
.Rear-facing child restraints
.Belt-positioning booster
seats
The proper child restraint for
your child depends on their
size, weight, and age, and also
on whether the child restraint
is compatible with the vehicle
in which it will be used.
For each type of child
restraint, there are many
different models available.
When purchasing a child
restraint, be sure it is
designed to be used in a
motor vehicle and is designed
by a genuine child restraint
manufacturer. If it is, the child
restraint will have a label
saying that it meets federal
motor vehicle safety
standards.
The instruction manual that is
provided with the child
restraint states the weight
and height limitations for that
particular child restraint. In
addition, there are many kinds
of child restraints available for
children with special needs.{Warning
To reduce the risk of neck
and head injury in a crash,
infants and toddlers should
be secured in a rear-facing
child restraint until age two,
or until they reach the
maximum height and weight
limits of their child restraint.
{Warning
A young child's hip bones
are still so small that the
vehicle seat belt may not
remain low on the hip bones,
as it should. Instead, it may
settle up around the child's
abdomen. In a crash, the belt
would apply force on a body
area that is unprotected by
any bony structure. This
alone could cause serious or
fatal injuries. To reduce the
risk of serious or fatal
injuries during a crash, (Continued)
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Warning (Continued)
young children should
always be secured in an
appropriate child restraint.
Child Restraint
Systems
Rear-Facing Infant Restraint
A rear-facing child restraint
provides restraint with the
seating surface against the
back of the infant. The harness system holds the
infant in place and, in a crash,
acts to keep the infant
positioned in the restraint.
Forward-Facing Child
Restraint
A forward-facing child
restraint provides restraint for
the child's body with the
harness.
Booster Seats
A belt-positioning booster
seat is used for children who
have outgrown their
forward-facing child restraint.
Boosters are designed to
improve the fit of the vehicle's
seat belt system until the child
is large enough for the vehicle
seat belts to fit properly
without a booster seat. See
the seat belt fit test in Older
Children 079.
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Securing an Add-On Child
Restraint in the Vehicle
{Warning
A child can be seriously
injured or killed in a crash if
the child restraint is not
properly secured in the
vehicle. Secure the child
restraint properly in the
vehicle using the vehicle
seat belt or LATCH system,
following the instructions
that came with that child
restraint and the
instructions in this manual.
To help reduce the chance of
injury, the child restraint must
be secured in the vehicle. Child
restraints must be secured in
vehicle seats by lap belts or
the lap belt portion of a
lap-shoulder belt, or by the
LATCH system. See Lower
Anchors and Tethers for
Children (LATCH System) 086
for more information. Never
use a seat belt extender when installing a child restraint.
Never use non-regulated
aftermarket anchors or
attachments to secure a child
restraint. Children can be
endangered in a crash if the
child restraint is not properly
secured in the vehicle.
When securing an add-on child
restraint, refer to the
following:
1. Instruction labels provided on the child restraint
2. Instruction manual provided with the child
restraint
3. This vehicle owner's manual
The child restraint instructions
are important, so if they are
not available, obtain a
replacement copy from the
manufacturer.
Keep in mind that an
unsecured child restraint can
move around in a collision or
sudden stop and injure people
in the vehicle. Be sure to properly secure any child
restraint in the vehicle
—even
when no child is in it.
In some areas Certified Child
Passenger Safety Technicians
(CPSTs) are available to
inspect and demonstrate how
to correctly use and install
child restraints. In the U.S.,
refer to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) website to locate the
nearest child safety seat
inspection station. For CPST
availability in Canada, check
with Transport Canada or the
Provincial Ministry of
Transportation office.
Securing the Child Within
the Child Restraint
{Warning
A child can be seriously
injured or killed in a crash if
the child is not properly
secured in the child
restraint. Secure the child
(Continued)
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Warning (Continued)
properly following the
instructions that came with
that child restraint.
Where to Put the
Restraint
According to accident
statistics, children and infants
are safer when properly
restrained in an appropriate
child restraint secured in a
rear seating position.
Whenever possible, children
aged 12 and under should be
secured in a rear seating
position.
Never put a rear-facing child
restraint in the front. This is
because the risk to the
rear-facing child is so great if
the airbag deploys.
{Warning
A child in a rear-facing child
restraint can be seriously
injured or killed if the front
passenger airbag inflates.
This is because the back of
the rear-facing child
restraint would be very
close to the inflating airbag.
A child in a forward-facing
child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if
the front passenger airbag
inflates and the passenger
seat is in a forward position.
Even if the passenger
sensing system has turned
off the front passenger
frontal airbag, no system is
fail-safe. No one can
guarantee that an airbag will
not deploy under some
unusual circumstance, even
though it is turned off.(Continued)
Warning (Continued)
Secure rear-facing child
restraints in a rear seat,
even if the airbag is off.
If you secure a
forward-facing child
restraint in the front seat,
always move the front
passenger seat as far back
as it will go. It is better to
secure the child restraint in
a rear seat.
See Passenger Sensing
System072 for additional
information.
When securing a child
restraint with the seat belts in
a rear seat position, study the
instructions that came with
the child restraint to make
sure it is compatible with this
vehicle.
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Child restraints and booster
seats vary considerably in size,
and some may fit in certain
seating positions better than
others. Do not install a child
restraint in any rear seating
position where it cannot be
installed securely.
Depending on where you place
the child restraint and the size
of the child restraint, you may
not be able to access adjacent
seat belts or LATCH anchors
for additional passengers or
child restraints. Adjacent
seating positions should not
be used if the child restraint
prevents access to or
interferes with the routing of
the seat belt.
The seat in front of an
installed child restraint should
be adjusted to ensure proper
installation according to the
child restraint manual.Wherever a child restraint is
installed, be sure to follow the
instructions that came with
the child restraint and secure
the child restraint properly.
Keep in mind that an
unsecured child restraint can
move around in a collision or
sudden stop and injure people
in the vehicle. Be sure to
properly secure any child
restraint in the vehicle
—even
when no child is in it.
Lower Anchors and
Tethers for Children
(LATCH System)
The LATCH system secures a
child restraint during driving or
in a crash. LATCH
attachments on the child
restraint are used to attach
the child restraint to the
anchors in the vehicle. This
system is designed to make
installation of a child restraint
easier. In order to use the LATCH
system in your vehicle, you
need a child restraint that has
LATCH attachments.
LATCH-compatible rear-facing
and forward-facing child seats
can be properly installed using
either the LATCH anchors or
the vehicle’s seat belts. Do not
use both the seat belts and
the LATCH anchorage system
to secure a rear-facing or
forward-facing child restraint.
Booster seats use the
vehicle’s seat belts to secure
the child and the booster seat.
If the manufacturer
recommends that the booster
seat be secured with the
LATCH system, this can be
done as long as the booster
seat can be positioned
properly and there is no
interference with the proper
positioning of the lap-shoulder
belt on the child.
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Make sure to follow the
instructions that came with
the child restraint, and also
the instructions in this manual.
When installing a child
restraint with a top tether, you
must also use either the lower
anchors or the seat belts to
properly secure the child
restraint. A child restraint
must never be installed using
only the top tether and
anchor.For a forward-facing 5-pt
harness child restraint where
the combined weight of the
child and restraint are up to
29.5 kg (65 lb), use either the
lower LATCH anchorages with
the top tether anchorage,
or the seat belt with the top
tether anchorage. Where the
combined weight of the child
and restraint are greater than
29.5 kg (65 lb), use the seat
belt with the top tether
anchorage only.