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light does not stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on
.
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. 145
Rear
seat: child prope rly rest rained
in
a booste
r
sea
t
The vehicle's safety belts alone will not
fit
most
children until they are at least 4 ft. 9 in. (5 7 in-
ches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about 80
lbs.
(36 kg). Booster seats
raise
these children up so
that the
safety
belt will pass properly over the
stronger parts of the
ir
bodies and the safety belt
can help protec
t
them in
a crash.
.,..
Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when usi ng the vehicle's safety belt to
restrain
a ch ild on a booster seat
.
.,..
The
shoulder
belt mus
t
lie
as
close
to
the cen-
ter
of
the child 's
collar bone
as possible and
must lie flat
and
snug
on
the
upper
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 tight-
en
if
necessary
.
.,..
Secure
unused
safety belts on the rear seat
<=>
page 156.
Children up to about 40
lbs.
(18 kg) are best pro-
tected
in
ch
ild
safety seats des igned for their age
and weight
.
Experts
say that
the
skeletal str uc-
ture, pa
rti cular
ly the pe lvis, of these children is
not fully
developed, and
they
must
not use the
Child
safety
vehicle safety be lts
wit
hout
a suitable
child
re-
straint.
It
is
usually
best
to
put these
ch ildren in
appro-
priate
booster
seats. Be su re
the
booster
seat
meets all applicab le safety standards
.
Booster
seats raise the
seating
position of
the
child and
reposition
both
th
e
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 ch ild's
protection,
whether or not a boos
-
ter seat is
used.
Children age 12 and
under
must
always
ride
in the rear seat.
Children who are at
least 4
ft. 9
in.
(57 inches/
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 restrain any ch ild, regard less of
how
big the
child is. Always remember
that
ch ildren do
not
have the
pronounced
pelvic str ucture
required for
the
proper function of
lap
be
lt
portion
of the
ve-
hicle's three point lap and
shoulde
r
belts
.
The
child's safety absolutely requires
that
a
lap
belt
portion
of the
safety belt
be fastened snugly and
as low as
possible
around the pe lvis.
Never
let
the
lap
belt
portion
of
the
safety belt pass over
the child 's stomach or abdomen
.
In
a
crash, airbags must inflate within
a
blink of
an eye and with considerab le 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 occu-
pant moves forward into the airbag
.
A vehicle
occup
ant who
is
out of position and too
close to the a irbag 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 fata
l
injury.
In order
for
the airbag to offer protection, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especially
any children, who must be
in
the front seat
be-
cause of exceptiona
l
circumstances, be properly
restrained
and as far away from the
airbag
as
possible. By keeping
room between
the
child's
..,.
159
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