Table of Contents
Advertisement
Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats can help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and
80 lbs . (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4
ft.
9 in. (57 inches/1 .45 meters) tall.
Fig. 123 Rear seat : child prope rly restrained i n a boos-
te r seat
Booster seats raise these ch ildren up so that
the safety belt will pass properly over the
stronger parts of their bodies and the safety
be lt can he lp protec t them in a crash .
.,. Do not use the conve rtible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to re-
stra in a child on a booster seat.
.. Always position the shou lde r po rtion of the
safety belt midway over the chi ld's shoulder.
.. Always make sure that the shoulder portion
of the safety belt never rests against or
across the chi ld's neck .
.,. Always make sure that the child can proper-
ly wear the lap portion of the belt low across
the thighs or pe lvis and never over the
stomach or abdomen .
It is usually best to put these children in ap-
propriate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all applicab le safety standards .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shou lder
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 ch ild's body is very
important for the ch ild's protection, whether
or not a booster sea t is used . Children age 12
and under must always ride in the rear seat.
Children who are at least 4 ft. 9 in. (57 in-
ches/1.45 meters) ta ll can generally use the
Child S a f ety
14 1
vehicle 's three point lap and shoulder belts .
Never use the lap belt portion of the vehicle's
safety belt alone to restra in any ch ild, regard -
less of how big the chi ld is. Always remember
that children do not have the pronounced pel-
vic structure required for the prope r funct ion
of lap belt po rtion of the vehicle's three point
lap and shou lder belts . The child's safety ab-
solutely requires that a lap belt portion of t he
safety belt be f astened snugly and as low as
poss ible around the pelvis. Never let the lap
belt portion of t he safety be lt pass over the
child 's stomach or abdomen.
In a crash, a irbags m ust inflat e within a blink
of an eye and wit h considerable force . In order
to do its job, the a irbag needs room to inflate
so that it will be the re to protect the occ upant
as the occupant moves forward into the a ir-
bag.
A vehicle occupant who is out of posit ion and
too close to the airbag gets in the way of an
inflating airbag . When an occ upant 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, espec ial-
ly any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptional circumstances, be
properly restrained and as fa r away from the
airbag as possible . By keeping room between
the child's body a nd the front of the passen-
ger compa rt ment, the a irbag can inflate com-
pletely and provide supplemental
protection
in certain frontal collisions.
..&_
WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the boos -
ter seat improperly, incorrectly installing a
booster seat or using the vehicle safety
belt imprope rly increases the risk of seri-
ous persona l injury and death in a coll ision
or oth er emergency sit uat ion. To he lp re-
d uce the risk of serio us pe rsonal injury
a nd/or death:
-
Advertisement
Table of Contents
