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Child
safety
Important
information
Introduction
The rear seat is generally the safest place in a
collision.
The physical principles of what happens when
your veh icle is in a crash apply also to children
c:>
page 136, What happens to occupants not
wearing safety belts? .
But unlike adults and
teenagers, the ir muscles and bones are not fu lly
developed. In many respe cts children are at
g reater risk of serio us injury in crashes than
ad ults.
Because children's bod ies are not fully deve loped,
they requ ire rest ra int systems especially de-
signed fo r their size, weight, and body st ruct ure.
Many countr ies and a ll st ates of t he Unit ed
States and provinces of Canada have laws requi r-
ing the use of approved child restraint systems
for infants and small chi ldren.
In a front al crash at a speed of 20 -35 mph
(30 -56 km/h) the forces acting on a 13 -po und
(6 kg) infa nt will be more than 20 t imes t he
weight of the child . This means the weight of the
chi ld would sudden ly be more than 260 pounds
(120 kg). Under these conditions, only an appro-
priate ch ild restra int properly used can reduce
the risk of se rious inju ry. Child restra ints, like
ad ult safety belts, must be used prop erly to be
effective . Used improperly, they can increa se the
risk of serious injury in an accident.
Consult the child safety seat manufacturer's
in-
structions in orde r to be sure the seat is right fo r
your chi ld's size
c:>
page 170, Important safety
instructions for using child safety seats .
Please
be sure to read an d heed all of t he importa nt in-
formation and WARNINGS about child safety, Ad-
vanced Airbags, and the installation of child re-
straints in th is chapter.
There is a lot you need to know abou t the Ad-
vanced Airbags in your vehicle and how they work
when infa nts and children in child rest raints a re
on the front passenger seat. Because of the large
amo unt of important informat ion, we cannot re-
Child s a f ety
pea t it all he re. We urge you to read the detailed
information in this owner's ma nual about airbags
and the Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
and the very important information about trans-
porting children on the front passenger seat.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS - they are
extremely importa nt for your safety and t he safe-
ty of you r passengers, especially infants and
small ch ild ren .
&
WARNING
- Accident st at istics have shown th at children
a re generally safer in the rear sea t a rea than
in the front seatin g position. Always restra in
any child age 12 and under in the rea r.
- All vehicle occupants and es pecially children
m ust be restrained properly whenever rid ing
in a vehicle. An un rest rained or improperly
restrained ch ild could be injured by striking
the inter ior or by be ing ejected from the ve-
hicle dur ing a sudden maneuve r or impact .
An unrestra ined o r improperly restrained
child is a lso at greate r risk of inj ury or death
through conta ct with an inflating airbag .
- A suitable ch ild restraint properly installed
an d used at one of t he rear seating posit ions
provides the highest deg ree of prote ct ion
for infan ts and small children in most a cci-
dent situat ions.
&
WARNING
f"-"---
-
Children on the front sea t of any car even with
Advanced Airbags can be ser iously injured or
even killed when an a irbag inflates. A chi ld in
a rearward-facing child safety seat installed
on the front passenger seat will be serious ly
injured and can be killed if the front a irbag in-
flates .
- The inflating airbag will hit the ch ild safety
seat or infant carr ier with great force and
will smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst t he backrest, cent er armrest, o r
door.
- Always install rear-fac ing ch ild safety seats
on the rear sea t .
- If you must ins t all a rearwa rd fac ing child
safety seat on th e front passenger seat in
167
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