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WARNING
-
Imprope rly inst alled chi ld 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
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 168.
Spec ial precaut ions
apply when installing a child safety seat on
the front passenger seat ¢
page 149, 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
at tach the child rest raint on the vehicle seat ,
Federal regulat ions require special lower ancho-
rages in vehicles and devices on new child re-
stra ints to attach to the veh icle anchorages .
In the United States, the combination of the
tether anchorages and the lower anchorages is
now generally called the LATC H system for
"Lower Anchorages and Tethers for Ch ildren ". In
Canada, the terms "top tether " with "lower uni-
ve rsal anc horages" (or "lower un iversal anchor-
age ba rs") are used to describe t he system.
In other countr ies the term "ISO FIX" is used to
describe the lowe r anchorages.
Forward-facing child restr a ints man ufactured af-
ter September 1, 1999 , are required by U.S. fed -
eral regulations to comply with new child head
movement performance requi rements. These
new perfo rmance requirements make a tethe r
~
necess ary o n most new child seats .
.....
N
~
Instal ling a child restraint that requi res a top
.....
g
tether wit hout one can serio us ly impair the per-
o:
co
Ch ild sa f ety
formance of t he child restraint and its abi lity to
protect the child in a collision. Installing a child
restra int that requires a top tether without the
top tether may be a violat ion of state law .
Child restraint manufacturers
offer LATCH lowe r
anchorag es on th e ir child seats with hook-on or
push-on connectors attached to adjustab le
st raps.
In addition to the LATCH lower anchorages, these
child restraint systems usua lly require th e use of
tether straps to help keep the child restra int
firmly in place .
A
WARNING
Improper insta llation of child restra ints w ill
increase the risk of injury and death in a
crash .
- Always follow the instructions prov ided by
the manufactu rer of the ch ild restraint you
inten d to insta ll in your vehicle .
- Never install a chi ld restraint without a
proper ly attached top tether strap if the
chi ld restrain t manufacture r's instructions
require the top te t her st ra p to be used.
- Improper use of chi ld restraint LATCH lower
anchorage poin t s can lead to injury in a coll i-
sion . The LA TCH lower anchorage points are
des igned to w ithstan d only those loads im-
posed by correctly fitted child restrain t s.
- Never mo unt two child restr aint systems o n
one LA TCH lowe r anchorage po int.
- Never secure or at t ach any luggage or other
item to the LA TCH lowe r an chor ages.
Location
Fig. 1 77 Schemati c overv iew: LATCH ancho rage point loca·
ti ons
~
181
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