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Child
Safety
Important
things
to
know
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 app ly also to chi ldren
q
page 130, What happens to occupants not
wearing safety belts? .
But unlike adu lt s thei r
muscles and bones are not fully developed. In
many respects children are at greater risk of
serio us inju ry in crashes than adults .
Because children's bod ies are not fu lly deve l-
oped, they require restraint systems especial -
ly des igned for their size, weight, and body
structure. Many countries and all states of th e
United States and p rovinces of Canada have
laws requ iring the us e of approved ch ild re-
straint systems for infants and small children .
In a frontal crash at a speed of 20-35 mph
(30-56 km/h) the forces acting on a 13-po und
(6 kg) infant w ill be more than 20 t imes the
weight of the child . This means the weight of
the child would suddenly be more than
260 pounds (120 kg). Under these conditions,
on ly an appropriate chi ld restrai nt properly
used can reduce the risk of ser ious injury.
Child restr ai nts must be used properly to be
effective. Used improperly, they can increase
the risk of serious inju ry in an accident.
Consult t he chil d safety seat manufacture r's
instr uctions to be sure the seat is righ t for
your chi ld's size
q
page 164, Important safe -
ty instructions for using child safety seats .
Please be sure to read and heed a ll of the im -
portant informat ion and WARNINGS abo ut
child safety, Advanced Airbags, and the ins t al-
lation of child restraints in this chapter.
There is a lot you need to know about the Ad-
vanced Airbags in your vehicle and how they
work when infants and children in child re-
straints are on the front passenger seat . Be-
cause of the large amount of important infor-
Child Sa f et y
16 1
mation, we cannot repeat it a ll here . We urge
you to read the detai led information in this
owner 's man ua l about airbags and the Ad-
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle and the
very important information about transpor t-
ing children on the front passenger seat.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS - they
ar e extremely importa nt for your safety and
the safety of you r passenge rs, especially in-
fan ts and small chi ld ren.
A
WARNING
- Accident statistics have shown that chil-
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
Always restrain any child age 12 and un-
der in the rear.
- All vehicle occupants and especially chil-
dren must be restrained properly when-
ever riding in a vehicle. An unrestrained
or improper ly restrained chi ld could be
inj ured by str iking the interior or by be -
ing ejected from the vehicle during a
sudden m aneuve r or impact. An un re-
st raine d or improperly restrained ch ild is
a lso at greate r risk of injury or dea t h
through contact with an inflating airbag .
- A suitable ch ild restrai nt properly inst al-
led and used at one of the rear seat ing
positions prov ides the highest degree of
protection for infants and small children
in most accident situations.
A
WARNING
Children on the front seat of any car even
with Advanced Airbags can be ser iously in-
ju red or even killed when an a irbag in-
flates. A child in a rearward -fac ing ch ild
safety seat installed on t he front passen-
ger seat w ill be ser iously injured and can
be killed if the front airbag infla t es.
- The infla t ing airbag will hit the ch ild
safe ty seat or infant carrie r wit h grea t
force a nd will sm a sh the child safety se at
and child against t he bac krest, cen t er
armrest or door .
- Always install rea rward-fac ing ch ild safe-
ty seats on the rea r seat .
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