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Child safety
- Always make sure the seat backrest to which
the child restraint is installed is in an up-
right position and securely latched into
place and cannot fold forward. Otherwise,
the seatback with the child safety seat at-
tached to it could fly forward in the event of
an accident or other emergency situation.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when-
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used¢
page 167 .
Special precautions
apply when installing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat¢
page 144, Child
restraints on the front seat - some impor-
tant things to know.
Deactivating the convertible locking
retractor
The convertible locking retractor for child re-
straints will be deactivated automatically when
the belt is wound all the way back into the re-
tractor .
~
Press the red button on the safety belt buckle.
Th@ belt tongue will pop out of the buckle.
~
Guide the safety belt all the way back into its
stowed position .
Always let the safety belt retract completely into
its stowed position . The safety belt can now be
used as an ordinary safety belt without the con-
vertible locking retractor for child restraints .
If the convertible locking retractor should be ac-
tivated inadvertently, the safety belt must be un-
fastened and guided completely back into its
stowed position to deactivate this feature . If the
convertible locking retractor is not deactivated,
the safety belt will gradually become tighter and
uncomfortable to wear.
_&
WARNING
Improperly installed child safety seats in-
crease the risk of serious personal injury and
death in a collision.
-
- Never unfasten the safety belt to deactivate
the convertible locking retractor for child re-
straints while the vehicle is moving. You
180
would not be restrained and could be seri-
ously injured in an accident.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when-
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
¢page 167.
Special precautions
apply when installing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat
c>
page 144, Child
restraints on the front seat - some impor-
tant things to know.
LATCH
system
(Lower
anchorages
and tethers
for children)
'
Child Restraint System anchors and how
are they related to child safety
To provide a simpler and more practicable way to
attach the chi ld restraint on the vehicle seat, Fed-
eral regulations require special lower anchorages
in vehicles and devices on new child restraints to
attach to the vehicle anchorages.
The combination of the tether anchorages and
the lower anchorages is now generally called the
LATCH system for "Lower Anchorages and
Tethers for Children ."
Forward-facing child restraints manufactured af-
ter September 1, 1999, are required by U.S. fed-
eral regulations to comply with new child head
movement performance requirements . These
new performance requirements make a tether
necessary on most new child seats .
Installing a child restraint that requires a top
tether without one can seriously impair the per-
formance of the child restra int and its ability to
protect the child in a collision . Installing a child
restraint that requires a top tether without the
top tether may be a violation of state law.
Child restraint manufacturers
offer LATCH lower
anchorages on their child seats with hook-on or
push-on connectors attached to adjustable
straps.
In addition to the LATCH lower anchorages, these
child restraint systems usually require the use of
tether straps to help keep the child restraint
firmly in place.
.,.
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