Advertisement
Child
safety
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. 159
Rear seat: child prope rly restrained
in
a booste
r
seat
The vehicle's safety belts alone will not fit most
children until they are at least 4 ft. 9
in.
(57 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 their bodies and the safety belt
can help protect them in a crash
.
•
Do not use
the convertible
locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to restrain
a child on a booster seat.
•
The shoulder belt must lie as close to the cen-
ter of the child's collar bone as possible and
must lie fla
t
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 157
.
Children
up
to about 40 lbs. (18 kg) are best pro-
tected
in
child safety seats designed
for
their age
and weight. Experts say that the skeletal struc-
ture, particularly the pelvis, of these children is
not fully developed
,
and they must not use the
vehicle safety belts without a suitable child re-
straint.
160
It
is usually best to put these children
in
appro-
priate 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 child 's body is very
important
for the child'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 child, regardless of how big the
child
is.
Always remember
that
ch ild ren do not
have
the pronounced pelvic
structure required
for
the proper
function
of lap belt portion of the ve-
hicle's three point lap and shoulder be lts. The
child's safety absolutely
requ
ires 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 considerable 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 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 ser ious or
possibly even fatal
injury.
In order for the airbag to offer protection, it
is
important
that all vehicle occupants, especially
any ch ildren, who must be
in
the front seat be-
cause 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 passenger
compart-
ment, the airbag can inflate completely and pro-
vide supplemental protection in certain frontal
collisions.
Advertisement
