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skeletal structure , particularly the pelvis, of
these children is not fully developed, and they
must not use the vehicle safety belts without
a suitable child restraint.
Children who are at least 4 ft. 9 in. (57 in-
ches/1.45 meters) tall can generally use the
vehicle's three point lap and shoulder belts.
Never use the lap belt portion of the vehicle 's
safety belt alone to res t rain any child, regard-
less of how big the child is. Always remember
that children do not have the pronounced pel-
vic structure required for the proper function
of lap belt portion of the vehicle's three point
lap and shoulder belts. The child's safety ab-
solutely requires that a lap belt portion of the
safety belt be fastened snugly and as low as
possible around the pelvis. Never let the lap
belt portion of the safety belt pass over the
child 's stomach or abdomen.
It is usually best to put these children in ap-
propriate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all applicable safety standa rds .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shoulder
parts of the safety belt so that they pass
across the child 's body in the right places. The
routing of the belt over the child's body is very
important for the child's protection, whether
or not a booster seat is used . Children age 12
and under must always ride in the rear seat.
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink
of an eye and with considerable force. In order
to do its job, the airbag needs room to inflate
so that it will be there to protect the occupant
as the occupant moves forward into the air-
bag.
A vehicle occupant who is out of position and
too close to the airbag gets in the way of an
inflating airbag. When an occupant is too
close, he or she will be struck violently and
will receive serious or possibly even fatal in-
jury.
In order for the airbag to offer protection, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especial-
ly any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptional circumstances, be
Child Safety
175
properly restrained and as far away from the
airbag as possible. By keeping room between
the child 's body and the front of the passen-
ger compartment,
the airbag can inflate com-
pletely and provide supplemental
protection
in certain frontal collisions .
A
WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the boos-
ter seat improperly, incorrectly installing a
booster seat or using the vehicle safety
belt improperly increases the risk of seri-
ous personal injury and death in a collision
or other emergency situation. To help re-
duce the risk of serious personal injury
and/or death:
- The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possi-
ble and must lie flat and snug on the up-
per body. It must never lie across the
throat or neck . The lap belt must lie
across the pelvis and never across the
stomach or abdomen . Make sure the belt
lies flat and snug. Pull on the belt to
tighten if necessary .
- Failure to properly route safety belts
over a child's body will cause severe inju-
ries in an accident or other emergency
situation
¢
page 134.
- The rear side of the child safety seat
should be positioned as close as possible
to the backrest on the vehicle seat. Ad-
just or remove the rear seat head re-
straint if it is difficult to install the child
seat with the head restraint in place
¢
page
57.
Install the head restraint
again immediately once the child seat is
removed . Driving without head restraints
or with head restraints that are not prop-
erly adjusted increases the risk of serious
or fatal neck injury dramatically.
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even with Advanced Airbags, can be seri-
ously injured or even killed when an air-
bag inflates.
- Never let a child stand or kneel on any
seat .
-
•
•
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