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It is usually best to put these children in ap-
propriate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all applicable safety standards.
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 chi ld'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.
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 restrain 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 req uires 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.
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink
of an eye and with cons ide rable 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
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 infla te com-
Child Safety
167
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 129.
- The rear side of the child safety seat
should be positioned as close as possible
to the backrest on the vehicle seat .
- 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 .
- Never let a child ride in the cargo area of
your vehicle.
- Always remember that a child leaning
forward, sitting sideways or out of posi-
tion in any way during an accident can be
struck by a deploying airbag. This will re-
sult in serious personal injury or death .
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of excep-
tional circumstances the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF light must come on and
stay on, whenever the ignition is switch-
ed on.
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