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Ch ild
safety
Child
safety
Important
information
Introduction
The rear seat is generally the safest place in a
collision.
The physical principles of what happens when
your vehicle is
in
a crash apply also to children
¢
page 125, What happens to occupants not
wearing safety belts?
.
But
unlike
adults their
muscles and bones are not fully developed
.
In
many
respects
children are at greater risk of seri-
ous injury
in
crashes
than
adults
.
Because children's bodies are not fully developed,
they requ ire
restraint
systems especially
de-
signed
for
their size, weight, and body structure.
Many countries and all
states of the United
States
and
provinces of
Canada
have laws
requir-
ing the use of approved child restraint systems
for infants and small children.
In a
frontal crash
at
a
speed
of
20-35
mph
(30-56
km/h) the
forces
acting
on a 13-pound
(6
kg)
infant will be more
than 20
times the
weight of the child.
This
means the weight of the
child would sudden ly be more than 260 pounds
(120 kg). Under these conditions, only an appro-
priate child restraint properly used can reduce
the risk of serious
injury.
Child restraints must be
used properly to be effective
.
Used improperly,
they
can
increase the risk of serious injury in an
accident.
Consult the child safety seat manufacturer's in-
structions to be sure the seat
is
right for your
child's size
¢
page 155, Important safety in-
structions for using
child
safety seats.
Please
be
sure
to
read
and heed
all of the
important
infor-
mation
and
WARN INGS about child safety,
Ad-
vanced Airbags, and the installation of child re-
straints
in
this chapter.
There
is
a
lot you need
to
know about the
Ad-
vanced Airbags in your vehicle and
how
they work
when infants and children in
child restraints
are
on the front passenger seat.
Because
of the large
amount
of
important information, we cannot re-
peat it all here. We
urge
you to read the detailed
152
information
in this owner's manual about airbags
and the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
and the very important information about trans-
porting children on the front passenger seat.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS - they are
extremely important for your safety and the safe
-
ty of your
passengers,
especially infants and
small children
.
&_
WARNING
-
Accident statistics have
shown
that
children
are
generally safer in
the
rear
seat area than
in
the front
seating position. Always
restrain
any child age 12 and under in the rear.
-
All vehicle occupants
and
especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restrained
child
could
be
injured by striking
the interior or by be ing ejected from the ve-
hicle dur ing a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestra ined or improperly
restrained
child is also at greater
risk
of injury or death
through
contact
with an inflating airbag.
-A suitable
child
restraint properly installed
and used at one of the
rear
seating posit ions
provides the highest degree
of
protect ion
for infants and small
children
in most acci-
dent
situations.
&_
WARNING
Children on
the
front
seat of any car
even with
Advanced Airbags can be
seriously
injured or
even
killed
when an airbag inflates. A child in
a rearward-facing child safety seat installed
on the front passenger seat will be serious ly
injured and can be killed if the front airbag in-
flates
.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carr ier with great force and
will smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst
the
backrest, center armrest or
door.
-Always install rearward-facing child safety
seats on
the
rear seat
.
-
If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat in
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