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same kind of child restrain t offered by child
restraint manufacturers.
The weight ranges for the ind ividual types,
makes and models of ch ild restra ints tha t the
NHTSA has specified in the Safety Standard
together with the weight ranges of typical in-
fants and typical 1 year-o ld child have been
stored in the control unit of the Advanced Air-
bag System. When a child restraint is being
used on the front passenger seat with a typi-
cal 1 year-old ch ild, the Advanced Airbag Sys-
tem compares the we ight measured by the
weight sens ing mat with the info rmat ion st or-
ed in t he electron ic cont rol unit.
The electron ic control unit a lso registers the
tension on the front passenger safety be lt.
The te nsio n on the safety be lt fo r the front
passenger seat will be d iffe ren t fo r an ad ult
who is properly using the safety belt as com-
pared to the tension on the be lt when it is
used to attach a child restraint to the seat.
The sensor below the latch for the safety be lt
for the front seat passenger measures the
tension on the be lt. The input from this sen-
sor is then used with the we ight to "decide",
whether there is a ch ild restrai nt with a typ ical
1 year-o ld child on the front passenge r seat
and whether or not the airbag must be turned
off.
Child restraints and Advanced Airbags
Regard less of the child res t raint that you use,
make sure that it has been certified to meet
United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards and has been certified by its manu-
facturer for use with an airbag. Always be sure
that the child restraint is properly insta lled at
one of the rea r seat ing pos itions .
If
in excep-
tional circumstances you must use it on the
fro nt passenge r seat, caref ully read all of t he
information on child safety and Adva nce d Air-
bags an d heed a ll of the app licable WARN-
INGS. Make certai n that the child restraint is
correctly recognized by the weig ht-sensing
mat inside the front passenger seat, that the
fro nt passenger airbag is turned off and that
Child Sa f et y
183
the a irbag stat us is always cor rect ly signaled
by the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Many types and models of child res tr aints
have been available over t he years, new mod -
els are introduced regu larly incorporating new
and improved designs and o lde r models are
ta ken out of product ion . Child restraints are
not standard ized. Child restraints of the same
type typically have d ifferent weights and sizes
and different 'footpr ints,' the size and shape
of the bottom of the ch ild restra int that sits
on the seat, when they a re insta lled on a vehi-
cle sea t . These d iffe rences make it virtually
impossible t o certify compl iance wit h t he re-
quiremen t s for advanced airbags with each
and every ch ild restraint t hat has eve r been
sold in the past or will be sold over the course
of the useful life of your veh icle.
For t his reason, t he United St ates Nat ional
Highway Traffic Safety Administration has
published a list of specific type, makes and
models of child restraints that must be used
to certify comp liance of the Advanced Airbag
System in your veh icle with the suppression
requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208. These child res t raints are:
Subpart A - Car bed child restraints
Model
Angel Guard Angel
Ride AA2403FOF
Manufactured on or
after
September 25, 2007
Subpart B - Rear-facing child restraints
Model
Manufactured on or
after
Century SmartF it
December 1, 19 99
4 54 3
Cosco Arriva
September 25, 2007
22-013PAW and base
22-999W HO
Evenflo Discove ry Ad- December 1, 1999
just Right 212
Evenflo First Choice
December
1,
1999
20 4
Graco Infant 8457
December 1, 1999
I
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